


The Kairyu Pirates

by NineBlades



Series: Rurouni Kenshin [5]
Category: Rurouni Kenshin
Genre: F/M, Some scenes may be more M-rated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-03-12 20:56:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 52,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13555431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NineBlades/pseuds/NineBlades
Summary: This is the fifth installment in my Rurouni Kenshin rewrite, this time covering the story about Shura and the Kairyu pirates.  Well this isn't technically from the manga I thought it was a fun little story arc in the anime and decided to add it in. I highly encourage you to read my previous installments in this series, starting with The Two Hitokiri's as this book is part of that series (also so that you can see the disclaimer that goes with this series).





	1. Glossary

**Author's Note:**

> Since I use some Japanese words and/or phases at times I provide the glossary for the entire work upfront, I suggest that you keep this somewhere easy to refer to throughout the book.

**Glossary**

  * **Bo-** a long staff could be up to 70 inches long
  * **Bokken-** a wooden practice sword
  * **Dojo** \- martial arts training hall
  * **-dono** \- Honorific. Even more respectful than –san; the effect in modern-day Japanese conversation would be along the lines of  “milord So-and-So.” As used by Kenshin, it indicates both respect and humility
  * **Fukiya-** a blow gun that is approximately four feet long (their length varies)
  * **Fundoshi** \- a traditional Japanese undergarment (loin cloth) for adult males, made from a length of cotton.
  * **Hadajuban-** a thin garment similar to an undershirt
  * **Hakama** \- similar to pants but pleated and worn only by men during the time of the Meiji
  * **Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu** \- Kenshin’s sword technique, used more for defense than offense. An “ancient style that pits one against many,” it requires exceptional speed and agility to master
  * **Kama** \- a short hand kama
  * **Kamiya Kasshin-ryu** \- Sword-arts or kenjutsu school established by Kaoru’s father, who rejected the ethics of Satsujin-ken for Katsujin-ken
  * **Katana** \- traditional Japanese longsword (curved, single-edge, worn cutting-edge up) of the samurai. Used primarily for slashing; can be wielded one- or two-handed
  * **Kenjutsu** \- the art of fencing; sword arts; kendo
  * **Obi** \- sash
  * **Oro** \- a phase often used by Kenshin, it has no real meaning, just an exclamation of surprise
  * **Rurouni-** wanderer, vagabond
  * **Sakabato** \- reversed-edge (the dull edge on the side the sharp should be, and vice-versa); carried by Kenshin as a symbol of his resolution never to kill again
  * - **san** \- honorific. Carries the meaning of Mr, Ms, Miss, etc, but is used more extensively in Japanese then its English equivalent (note even an enemy may be addressed as –san)
  * **Sansetsukon-** a three section staff, it is three pieces of hard wood or metal held together by a thick rope of chain
  * **Sen-** unit of Japanese currency, equal to one hundredth of a yen. No longer in circulation.
  * **Sensei** \- teacher
  * **Seppuku** \- suicide
  * **Shinai** \- Kenjutsu “practice sword,” said to have been developed around 1750.  Traditional constructed of four pieces of well-seasoned bamboo, a small piece of metal inside the “butt” of each stave keeps them aligned
  * **Susoyoke-** is a thin half-slip-like piece of underwear worn by women
  * **Tanuki** -is the common Japanese name for the Japanese raccoon dog. They have been part of Japanese folklore since ancient times. The legendary tanuki is reputed to be mischievous and jolly, a master of disguise and shape shifting, but somewhat gullible and absent-minded.
  * **Tsuba** \- hand guard on a sword, it is a disc shape and serves a duel role of preventing the user’s hand from slipping as well as blocking or warding off an attack.




	2. Tax Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I should add, when I started writing this book I was still in grad school. You know, broke student who sometimes got to choose between buying groceries so I'd have something decent to eat, or put gas in my car so that I could make it to class and my internship rotations so I could get license for my job in healthcare. This book was me venting those frustrations of a broke student a little bit. This is also appropriate since it is tax season here in the states. 
> 
> Oh and Yahiko's complaint about the food, also me channeling my inner frustrations, lets just say I still can't look peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the eye...

**Chapter 1**

**Tax Day**

_Taxes, nothing ever goes right around tax time,_ Sanosuke thought bitterly as he punched a man right between the eyes knocking him back into the rails where he tripped and went over the side with a yell making a large splash in the water below.  A quick glance showed him that Kenshin was doing all right and holding his own against his attackers before Sanosuke had to turn his attention back to his own fight.  _Even when I skip out of town right before and show up when it’s almost over, something always has to happen.  At least this is more fun than last year when I got thrown into jail over the whole burnt rat dumpling fiasco._

Sanosuke clenched his fists as four more opponents circled around him with evil looks in their eyes.  _But even so, why do I have to fight with a bunch of half naked men?_   He wondered as the men lunged forward, some wearing nothing more than a fundoshi.  Sanosuke sidestepped their attacks and retorted by taking two down in an instant despite the fact that they were armed with swords, feeling the satisfying impact of his fists hitting flesh.  _I know these guys have got to rack in more than I do.  So what? They can’t afford a decent set of hakama?  How pathetic._

Off to his side he heard Kenshin and Kaoru arguing and though he couldn’t hear the exact conversation he took a guess that it had something to do with her taking cover and staying out of the fight and Kaoru refusing any such thing, it was so atypical of their relationship Sanosuke didn’t spare a moment to think about it.  And somewhere else Yahiko was also hard at work as Sanosuke could hear the distinctive crack of his shinai as it hit flesh.  _Man this has been a crazy week, but on the plus side, this is a fun way to make a little extra coin…_

_***_

_Two weeks before:_

Kaoru stood against the wall next to a huddle of other women who clustered together as one by one names were read off a sheet and their owners would come forward and pay their allotted portion of the tax.  Kaoru was starting to feel light headed from the heat in the room with all the people huddled together like cattle.  Between the crowds and the heat outside now that summer had arrived, the air was stifling inside.  _I’d kill for a breeze,_ Kaoru thought desperately as she clutched a purse for dear life to her chest.  It contained every single sen she had.  _Once they get to my name, I’ll pay the tax, and then meet Kenshin and Yahiko in the market place this afternoon to shop for the things we need,_ Kaoru reminded herself.

Kenshin and Yahiko had offered to come with Kaoru to pay the tax but Kaoru had refused their offer, telling them that there was no reason for them to have to sit through the affair.  Kaoru ran through the mental list of all the groceries they were out of.  _I hope I have enough to cover it, oh well I should be able to at least get some rice and soy sauce.  We can survive on that until Master Maekawa pays me in a couple of days, then we can get something decent to go with it._   Kaoru tried to reassure herself.  She was trying to ignore the whispers around her as to how much taxes had gone up.  That wasn’t a happy thought, especially combined with the fact that food costs were on the rise due to spring flooding that had caused a rot among the crops.  She was resisting the urge to revaluate how much money she would have left by the end of the day.

“Kamiya household, head of the house Kaoru Kamiya.”

Kaoru’s head shot up at the sound of her name and she pushed her way forward to the table where a man was perched over a sheet of papers filled with names and numbers with several guards standing behind him.  The man stated a number and Kaoru blinked, certain that she had misheard.  “I’m sorry how much did you say?” Kaoru asked in puzzlement.  _That can’t be right,_ Kaoru reassured herself, _it’s just all the heat in the room, it’s making me lightheaded and hearing things, that’s it._

The man’s eyes narrowed and he repeated the sum while Kaoru swallowed hard, _why couldn’t I have been hearing things?_   She thought in panic as she numbly opened her purse and slowly counted out the amount, hoping against hope that the money in her purse would suddenly start multiplying.  The man watched her actions with an intense gaze, the moment the last of the money was laid out, he quickly scooped the coins into his hands and dropped them in a small chest at his elbow, before he checked off her name from the list and shouted out the next name.

Kaoru resisted the sudden impulse to throw herself at the chest and take her money back, knowing that the guards were there for precisely that reason.  She was pushed out of the way as the next person came forward to pay the tax and numbly she made her way outside and into the fresh air.

 _Don’t freak out, you should at least have enough left to buy a little rice, we can live without the soy sauce, just rice will be fine, plus what’s in the garden, that should be enough._ Kaoru trembled slightly as she opened her purse, which now seemed empty, and gently shook out the remaining coins.  She blinked away tears of helplessness.  _Two sen!_ She screamed in desperation.  She closed her eyes.  _I can’t even buy enough rice to feed us for dinner.  It took everything I earned from Master Mochizuki keeping his dojo for a month to just pay for taxes.  One’s month’s wages gone!_

Kaoru clenched the coins in her hands, leaned against a wall, and closed her eyes and took several deep calming breaths.  _All right, so we need money for food, I’m just going to have to borrow the money, no big deal, and then repay it as soon as I can._   Even as she thought it, she cringed back from the thought.  She hated the idea of begging anyone for money, _it’s either that or look Yahiko and Kenshin in the eye and tell them to tighten their obi’s because we’re not eating for a while._   Once she thought that, Kaoru realized that asking for money was the lesser of the two.  She opened her eyes, a plan in mind.

 _Doctor Gensei’s isn’t that far, I’ll ask if he can loan me some money,_ Kaoru thought as she set off with determination.  When she walked into the clinic, she found Doctor Gensei sitting down with a cup of tea with Megumi who was busy preparing some herbs. 

“Can you believe how much they’ve raised the taxes!  Especially with how much everything is else is increasing in cost.  This is highway robbery!  How are honest folk suppose to make a living?”  Doctor Gensei asked angrily.

Megumi looked up as Kaoru walked through the open door.  “Kaoru, what a nice surprise, can I get you anything?”

“No, I’m fine,” Kaoru replied, waving off her offer as she sat down next to Doctor Gensei, “so I gather you were talking about the rise in taxes this year?”

“You mean the government taking everything but the shirt off my back,” Doctor Gensei corrected bitterly.  “At this point there’s barely enough left to restock some of my supplies, I may even have to stop reducing the prices of some of the medicines for my less well off patients, though I will use that as a last resort for as long as I can,” the Doctor sighed as he took a sip of his tea.

Kaoru felt her heart sink through the floor, _there goes that plan,_ Kaoru thought bitterly.  She had no doubt that no matter how little money Doctor Gensei had left, he would loan to Kaoru whatever she asked for, but she couldn’t take that offer now.  Not if it meant taking away medicine from someone just because they couldn’t afford the full price.

“What about you Kaoru-chan, how did you survive the fleecing?” the Doctor asked gently with just a hint of bitterness.

“Actually we made it out okay,” Kaoru replied brightly, years of practice of putting on a false smile coming into play in an instant.  “That month of working in Izu was a big help, we won’t be eating like kings but we’ll scrap by until things get back to normal.”

“Well that’s good news,” Megumi replied.  “Doctor Gensei was worried that you would be hard hit this year since you haven’t had students in such a long time.”

“No need to worry about me, I always find a way to make ends meet, no matter how many freeloaders I’m feeding,” Kaoru laughed, starting to feel the strain of her act.  “Speaking of freeloaders, I’m supposed to be meeting them down in the market to get a little shopping done.  I’ll see you later then,” Kaoru waved as she got up and walked out of the clinic, her smile falling away from her face the moment she was back out on the street. 

She started walking aimlessly as she thought about her options, running through the list of people that she knew, trying to find someone close enough to her who would lend her money at the drop of a hat but who wouldn’t have been too badly hit by the sudden increase in taxes.  “Of course, Tae!”  Kaoru exclaimed feeling stupid that she hadn’t immediately thought of her friend.  _With all the business that the Akabeko gets they should have scrapped through taxes fine, and Tae wouldn’t hesitate to loan me a little money._

Kaoru made her quickly to Tae’s home knocking gently on the front gate.  She waited a few minutes before the gate opened and she found herself facing Tae’s mother-in-law, Chiyoko.

“Um hello, is Tae home?” Kaoru asked hesitantly knowing full well the amount of distain Chiyoko held against Tae and by extension her.

Chiyoko stood aside and let Kaoru walk in, holding her nose slightly up in the air at her.  Kaoru took that as a yes and was sure that she took off her sandals and she was tracking the least amount of dirt before stepping into the house.  She didn’t bother asking where Tae was as Chiyoko disappeared into some portion of the home.  With Tae’s pregnancy she was now spending her time at home instead of working in the shop as she had been accustomed to doing, with the extra hiring of help she wasn’t needed anyways. 

Kaoru walked into the room where she had visited with Tae the day before to find Tae having tea with her husband, Nobuyuki.  Kaoru had always liked Nobuyuki, he was a man of few words and always serious, thinking out each consequences before taking any action.  He made the perfect opposite for his wife who could talk for hours about anything and had a tendency to make split second decision before thinking them all the way through.

“Kaoru!  What a surprise, I wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon,” Tae greeted happily as she opened her arms and Kaoru stepped forward, kneeled next to her friend, and gave her a hug, slightly hindered by Tae’s growing abdomen.  “Here let us get you some tea and we can all talk,” Tae offered.

“Actually I’m okay, I really wanted to…” Kaoru started.

“Nonsense, I insist.  Besides you look like you could use something, you’re awfully pale,” Tae cut her off, taking a good luck at Kaoru’s face.  Before Kaoru could protest, Tae had gotten to her feet and left to fetch another cup.  Kaoru was left sitting awkwardly, aware of Nobuyuki’s intense gaze.  Tae returned a few minutes later and started pouring Kaoru a cup of tea.  “So what’s wrong dear?” she asked as she handed Kaoru her cup.

“Why do you think something’s wrong?”  Kaoru countered as she accepted the cup.

Tae raised on eyebrow at her, “because you look like a ghost and your tapping your fingers like you always do when your upset.”

Kaoru glanced down at her hands to see that Tae was right, she was tapping her fingers softly against her cup.  _I think Tae is the only person to know that tell of mine,_ Kaoru thought ruefully.  She quickly grasped her cup tightly till her knuckles went white to steady her hands.  “Actually there is a problem and I need to ask you something,” Kaoru told her softly, her head bowed.

“What is it?” Tae asked.  Kaoru stared at her tea for a moment trying to work up the courage to reply.  “Would you rather Nobuyuki leave?” Tae asked softly after glancing between her and Nobuyuki.

“No it’s fine,” Kaoru’s head snapped up and she smiled hesitantly.  “It’s just that I’m a little ashamed that I’m having to do this, that’s all.  I-I need to borrow a little money.”

The moment after Kaoru’s confession Nobuyuki got up and walked out of the room and Tae followed him with a questioning look before turning back to Kaoru.  “There’s nothing to be ashamed of honey, we all need a little help now and then.  How much do you need?”

Kaoru smiled at her gratefully, “just 3 day’s wages, that should be enough to buy food until I get paid by Master Maekawa, and I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”  Kaoru assured her.  “It’s just I had to spend everything I had on taxes, and there’s nothing left over for food and I can’t just let Yahiko and Kenshin starve, can I?”  Kaoru was starting to realize that she was babbling, another thing that she tended to do when she was upset, so she bit her lip to keep from talking.

“Here, this is all I have on hand at the moment, if you need more just come back tomorrow,” Nobuyuki walked back in and handed Kaoru a bulging purse.

Kaoru’s eyes widen as she took the purse and she glanced at Nobuyuki in alarm, Tae on the other hand was beaming at her husband.  “I can’t accept all of this,” Kaoru protested.

“Why not?” Nobuyuki asked, his brows furrowed in puzzlement, “didn’t you say that you needed money?”

“Well yes, but this is too much,” Kaoru shook her head, she was determined to refuse accepting one sen more than she had to.  She shook out some of the contents of the purse, carefully counted out a few coins, and then poured the rest back in the pouch and handed it back to Nobuyuki.  “This is all I need,” Kaoru said clenching the coins to her chest.

“Are you sure honey?  If you need more you can have it,” Tae asked her.

Kaoru shook her head with a smile, feeling a little of the strain about not being able to feed the others starting to fade.  “This will be enough for now.  I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”

“One more thing, there’s no interest for this, and take as long as you need to pay it back,” Nobuyuki assured her.  “After all you are a friend, and it’s the least we can do.”

Kaoru nodded happily, “I’m sorry to you both but I have to go, I’m supposed to be meeting Yahiko and Kenshin to pick up the groceries we need right now, I’ll come back and see you again soon.” Kaoru said as she gave Tae one last quick hug and bowed slightly to Nobuyuki, “thank you again, both of you.”

***

 “Is this really all we needed?”  Yahiko asked in puzzlement as Kenshin carried a single small barrel of rice over his shoulder and Yahiko carried a jug of soy sauce in his arms, “seems like you dragged us all the way out here for nothing.”

“It won’t hurt you to get out of the dojo every once in a while Yahiko,” Kaoru scolded, as she held a small basket of tofu in her arms, she had wanted to pick up a nice fish for dinner but after buying everything else, tofu was all she could afford.  _It’ll be all right, the day after tomorrow I get paid, it won’t be that much since we just got back but it should hopefully be enough to help us get by,_ Kaoru told herself firmly.  She forced a smile on her face as Yahiko and Kenshin started exchanging jokes about whether Sanosuke would be at the dojo looking for a free meal when they got back or if he was still evading the ‘tax man’.  _There’s no need to tell the others what’s going on, we can make it though this, no need to worry them about it._

At least that was what Kaoru thought.  She was proven wrong two days later when Master Maekawa explained that after taxes he no longer had the wage he was going to pay Kaoru.  She would just have to be paid extra the next month.  Kaoru sat in the kitchen preparing lunch while Kenshin and Yahiko were playing hide and go seek with Ayame and Suzume outside.  _Great now how am I supposed to feed everyone?_   Kaoru thought mournfully as she looked at the pitiful stores around the kitchen, even bringing in the fare from the garden there was little enough for lunch. 

 _The rice will only last a week at most,_ Kaoru thought cringing.  _I could ask Tae for more money but I hate the idea of doing that.  Even the little I did borrow the other day I’ll be hard pressed to pay back unless I get some students soon and the only way I’m going to get students at this point is to do well in the tournament and that’s a month off!_

Sighing, Kaoru pulled the lid off the rice barrel and out of habit scooped out a full cup and was about to dump it in a pot before she stopped and took a good look at the rice barrel.  She carefully poured rice back into the barrel for a moment before taking another look at the rice remaining in the cup.  _I’ll just have to portion things carefully and stretch the food as far as I can,_ Kaoru thought to herself as she started preparing the rice before starting on the vegetables.  _I have to insist on doing all the cooking and make smaller amounts of everything and let Kenshin and Yahiko eat what they want and I get what’s left over.  So long as I do this right they shouldn’t even know what’s going on._

Kaoru smiled a little at her solution.  _I just have to be smart about this, and that way Kenshin and Yahiko won’t have to starve._

_***_

Kenshin scrubbed the dishes, humming tunelessly to himself under his breath.  The shadow flickered at the edge of his vision once again and Kenshin sighed.  “Yes Yahiko, what is it?”

“Why can’t you take over some of the cooking?” Yahiko pleaded as he came around the corner and sat down next to Kenshin.  “I can’t take this anymore, if I have to look at one more meal of rice and eggplant I think I’m going to hurl, it’s all we’ve had, every meal, for a _whole_ week.”

Kenshin sighed, “this one would like something different as well but we eat what we can.  Just be happy that we have plenty of food Yahiko, some people have to starve because they can’t afford anything.”

“But can’t we have something different once in awhile?”  Yahiko pleaded.  “I’d give anything for some nice tofu, or a big eel, or maybe beef hot pot!”  Yahiko exclaimed eagerly.

 _Great now he’s starting to make me hungry and we just ate,_ Kenshin thought grimly at the mention of beef hot pot.  “How about we go down and catch a nice fish for dinner at the river?” Kenshin compromised and Yahiko’s eyes lit up. 

“Come on Kenshin, hurry up on those dishes, I’ll grab us some poles,” Yahiko agreed before running off to the storage shed and bringing back two fishing poles.

Kenshin raised an eyebrow as he finished the last of the dishes.  “Don’t you have lessons now Yahiko?”

Yahiko groaned, “oh yeah, I guess I’ll meet you down by the river after the torture session is over.”

Kenshin smiled in amusement as Yahiko handed the poles over to him.  “How bad can it be Yahiko?”

Yahiko gave him an evil look, “Kaoru always likes to do a little free sparing between us every once in a while, and with that tournament coming up it’s been almost every lesson.  I’m tired of being her target.”

“We all had to serve our time in that role,” Kenshin told him philosophically, “even this one, and we all survived, that we did.”  Laughing to himself, Kenshin turned and started walking away with a pole in one hand and a bucket in the other to keep the fish in.

“Yeah, say’s the man running off to the river for the day!” Yahiko shouted ungratefully behind him.  He sighed, “I’d better get to the dojo, if I’m late then Kaoru’s going to kill me.”

***

 “All right time for some sparring,” Kaoru stated brightly.  Yahiko suppressed his groan as much as he could.  “Get some pads on Yahiko and we’ll get started.”

Shuffling his feet and moving as slowly as he could without the risk of bringing Kaoru’s wrath down on him, Yahiko shuffled across the dojo and pulled out some pads and started strapping them on.  Once he was suited up, he shuffled back to where Kaoru was waiting with far too bright a gleam in her eye for Yahiko’s comfort.

“Standard rules, once one of us lands a hit we back up and then start again.  You ready Yahiko?” Kaoru asked as she stepped into a stance.

 _Ready to call it a day and go fishing,_ Yahiko thought to himself.  _Standard rules: once Kaoru smacks me she waits two seconds and then tries to do it again._   “I’m ready,” he replied as he crouched in a defensive stance.  There were two quick cracks of wood on wood as Yahiko blocked Kaoru’s initial assault but flinched when her third blow hit him solidly in the side.  She politely stepped back and waited for Yahiko to face up with her again.  Yahiko gritted his teeth at the next attack, determined to not let Kaoru have it too easy.  But it never seem to matter, Kaoru would always manage to score a hit.  After about five minutes, Yahiko noticed a sudden change in Kaoru, her face had gone from being flushed with the exercise to unnaturally pale and her hands trembled slightly where they held her shinai.  He blocked her suddenly clumsy attack and was about to retaliate before Kaoru’s knees buckled and she hit the wooden floor hard, catching her fall with one hand, panting and trembling.

In concern, Yahiko dropped on his knees next to her, “hey Kaoru, you okay?”

“I’m okay,” Kaoru responded weakly.

“If this is what you look like when you’re okay then it’s no wonder why you’re still single,” Yahiko teased hoping for a reaction.  He grew more worried when all he got was a half-hearted backhand that hit his arm, not even stinging.  “Hey Kaoru, should I go get the Doctor or something?  You really don’t look good,” Yahiko offered, even more concerned now.  He took at closer look at Kaoru’s face, _she looks like she’s going to pass out any time now._

“I’m fine,” Kaoru’s head came up and she forced a fake smile.  “It’s probably just this heat.”

“Would you like some water or something?”

“Yeah, I’d like some water,” Kaoru agreed and Yahiko stripped off his pads and dropped his shinai next to the racks of weapons.  By the time he turned around, Kaoru was shakily trying to get to her feet.  Yahiko dashed forward and caught her before she fell.  “Thanks,” Kaoru said weakly.

“You sure you don’t want me to get the Doctor?” Yahiko protested.

“I’m fine, let’s just get back to the house, I’ll have some water, and then I’ll be okay.” Kaoru assured him.

Yahiko wasn’t so sure but he helped her back to the house before bringing her a cup of water.  He had to admit that after drinking she was starting to look a little better with some of her color coming back. 

“Where’s Kenshin?”  Kaoru asked Yahiko as he refilled her water cup.

“Oh, he went out to the river to catch a fish or two for dinner, I said I’d join him once lessons were done.”

Kaoru smiled as she took the cup back, “well I’m thinking lessons are done for now so why don’t you go and join him?  A nice fish sounds good for dinner.”

“You sure you’re okay Kaoru?”  Yahiko protested, he didn’t feel that it was wise to leave Kaoru alone at the moment.

Kaoru rolled her eyes, “since when did you become all nice and polite to your master huh?  I’m just fine you pointy eyed midget.  So why don’t you go and be usefully and bring back some dinner already?”

Yahiko smiled in relief now that Kaoru was acting more like herself.  “Well all right if you insist tanuki,” he started as he headed for the door.

“Yahiko one more thing,” Kaoru called out behind him and Yahiko turned in puzzlement.  “Don’t tell Kenshin what happened, it’ll only worry him and it’s really nothing.  I’m already feeling better.”

Yahiko hesitated but Kaoru smiled at him and Yahiko gave a quick nod of his head before dashing out the door, now no longer so sure that Kaoru was all right.  _If it really was the heat why would she go so far to keep it between us?_   Yahiko walked along deep in thought for a moment before another realization hit him, _wait a minute, it was hot yesterday, but it’s a lot cooler today.  But Kaoru didn’t have any problems yesterday!_   Yahiko stopped for a moment as he remembered Kaoru’s pale face, _was it really the heat that almost made her pass out?  But then what else could it be?_

_***_

The sailor kept a careful watch from the crow’s nest high above the ship.  The dark clouds overhead made visibility next to nothing but still the sailor kept watch.  _Those pirates are out there somewhere,_ he thought to himself as he did another 360˚, looking for any other ships in the area but as far as he could tell there was no one else around them. 

The sailor had been working for the Senbonya fleet for years.  They dealt mainly in silks to the different ports of Japan.  Personally, the sailor didn’t know why the pirates would be attacking only Senbonya ships lately, how much money could really be in silks?  Especially since most of the ones they carried weren’t of that high of quality.

“Anything yet?”

The sailor turned as his replacement climbed up into the perch.  “Nothing yet, but keep a careful look out, this was the area that most of the other ships were attacked in after all.”

“Right.”

It was as the sailor was preparing to climb down the ladder to reach the deck below that he spotted a dark mass on the water near the ship. His mouth gaped open in alarm as the dark mass suddenly became an old beat up ship whose deck was filled with men clenching weapons.

“The pirates!  It’s the pirates!” he screamed a warning, but the warning would come too late.

***

Out of the corner of his eye, Kenshin saw Yahiko watching Kaoru carefully as she ate.  Kenshin had noticed that for the past couple of days Yahiko had seemed bothered by something and was paying more attention to Kaoru than usual.  Picking up Yahiko’s behavior, Kenshin also started paying more attention to Kaoru of late.  She was still training for the tournament but he had noticed that her intensity and her enthusiasm for her routine had decreased dramatically, now it seemed almost as though she was dragging herself through the day.

At first Kenshin had just thought that Kaoru was exhausted from the intense amount of training she had been putting herself through every day.  After all, not only was she keeping up with Yahiko’s lessons, her own training, and housework, but she had also decided to take over all the cooking in order, as she had told Kenshin, to finally improve her skills.  What Kenshin felt that Kaoru really needed to do was to take a couple of days to rest, he had even tried to politely suggest that to Kaoru but all he got was a ‘mind your own business’ and had let the matter drop. 

Once that had failed, Kenshin’s second solution was to offer to take over all the housework and the cooking as well but Kaoru had refused to relinquish the task of cooking.  Kenshin hadn’t been that concerned before but now that he was really looking he noticed that even in the soft light of twilight her features were paler than usual and her cheekbones seemed more prominent than before.  He watched her as she carefully ate the small portion she had served herself and tried to remember the last time he had really seen Kaoru eat something.  _I think that was about when Yutaro left for Germany two weeks ago,_ Kenshin realized and suddenly grew worried.

“Kaoru-dono is something wrong?” he inquired gently, deciding to stop speculating and just get to the point.

“Huh?” Kaoru answered with wide eyes, lowering her bowl for a moment.

“You haven’t been eating much lately, is there something wrong?” Kenshin persisted.

Kaoru shook her head with a slight smile, “it’s just the heat, it always makes me lose my appetite, I never want to eat when it’s hot.”

Kenshin’s eyes narrowed, “do you always look so pale in the summer?  And judging by your face you look as though you’ve lost some weight as well.  Plus you have been walking around here like the dead, that you have.  Are you sure that you shouldn’t have Doctor Gensei take a look at you?”

“I’m fine Kenshin!” Kaoru yelled as she slammed her empty rice bowl down on the floor and shattered it.  “Damn it, look at what you made me do,” Kaoru swore as she gathered up the pieces in her hands and then scrambled to her feet. 

“Kaoru-dono,” Kenshin started after her, he was confused as to why she had gotten so angry over his concern, usually she would just brush off such attention.

“Just drop it Kenshin!” Kaoru retorted as she stalked off to the kitchen to dispose of the broken bowl.

Kenshin glanced back at Yahiko whose worried face matched his own, _something really is wrong with her._

The rest of the evening was spent in almost complete silence, Kenshin wanted to say something but the gleam in Kaoru’s eye told him that certain subjects were forbidden and that was what he really wanted to discuss.  Finally, they each retired to their sleeping quarters and Kenshin laid out his futon, undressed, laid his sword down next to the bed, and blew out his candle.  He laid in the darkness puzzling over Kaoru’s actions of late, trying to discover the cause behind her strange behavior. 

 _Kaoru must be sick but doesn’t want to burden any one with it and is just waiting until she gets over it,_ the more Kenshin thought about it the more sense it made to him.  _After all that is exactly the kind of thing she would do, and it would explain why she hasn’t been eating well lately.  But if it’s been going on for this long then she should really let Doctor Gensei or Megumi-san examine her and make sure that it’s nothing serious.  But then maybe she’s getting a better and so doesn’t see the need for that?_

Kenshin rolled over in frustration.  _Why does she have to be stubborn, while we’re on it, why does she have to make everything a guessing game?  Is that just a woman thing in general?_

Kenshin sat up at the sound of gentle tapping at his door before it slid back a little.

“Hey Kenshin are you still up?” Yahiko asked softly.

“Yes, is something wrong Yahiko?” Kenshin answered.

“Umm, can I come in and talk to you about something?” Yahiko whispered in reply.

“Of course Yahiko,” Kenshin fumbled to relight his candle as Yahiko came into the room and closed the door behind him.  Kenshin turned to look at Yahiko sitting with his head bowed, wringing his hands, and looking very nervous about something.  Kenshin immediately went on high alert.  _Anything that has Yahiko this worked up has to be bad, he’s not the type to let little things get to him._

“I’m not really sure if I should say anything since Kaoru really didn’t want me to say anything but after what you said to her tonight…” Yahiko trailed off and Kenshin felt the tension growing in the air.  He wanted to leap at the boy and shake him until he said whatever he knew about Kaoru, but he settled for gently replying.

“What was it that Kaoru-dono didn’t want this one to know?”

“Well she fainted the other day while we were sparring.”

“She what?” Kenshin gasped.  _Kaoru never faints, she’s not that type.  This has to be more serious than I thought._

“Well almost fainted,” Yahiko corrected himself.  “She didn’t actually, she claimed it was just the heat but… well it was cooler that day then it had been before so I don’t think that was it.  And ever since then I’ve noticed that Kaoru never really practices with me.  She shows me a drill or block or something and then has me practice it while she just stands there or sits on the side and corrects me.  She rarely just stood there before, and she never sat down except for that one time she was reading through her mail.  I got worried about her so this morning I decided to follow her when she went out for her morning run before we start lessons, but I made sure that she didn’t see me.  I noticed that she only went as far as that walk by the river and then just collapsed next to a tree and waited for about an hour before she came back.  And the one time I was stupid enough to go with her when we got back to Tokyo she went all the way out to that shrine on the hill and then back!  And when you spoke up at dinner tonight I realized that it wasn’t all in my head after all, that there really must be something wrong with her.”

Yahiko looked up to see Kenshin’s face drawn and serious, the expression that actually made him look older than his 23 years.  “Kenshin what are we going to do?  Because no matter what, Kaoru’s going to be a stubborn mule about it.”  Yahiko looked almost completely defeated since he was unsure of what to do, or even what was wrong with Kaoru.

“Don’t worry about a thing,” Kenshin told him in a firm voice.  “I will deal with this, you just get some sleep.”

***

Yohei Senbonya, the owner of the Senbonya trading company sighed as he put his head in his hands at the latest news.  _Another ship attacked by those blasted pirates._ “And they took all the cargo?” he asked wearily.

“Yes sir, I’m afraid they took everything, any of the crew who resisted were attacked, some were killed while others were merely injured.”  The clerk responded.

Yohei sighed again filling a headache coming on, _I can’t afford anything to happen to the next shipment.  I have already been warned by Hoji-sama of what will happen…But if this next shipment can make it through all right then everything will be fine._ “I’ve had enough of this,” he announced, raising his head with a firm look in his eye.  “We’re going to have to hire some muscle to protect the next ship if those pirates attack.  We can’t afford to lose another ship.  Get someone down to the docks, start rounding up some good fighters, and send them here this evening.”

“And what should we offer as payment to the guards?” the clerk asked politely.

Yohei’s eyes narrowed as he thought about it and then began outlining his idea to the clerk who started scribbling down the numbers fiercely on a small pad of paper. 

***

Kaoru sighed in relief, _Yahiko’s working at the Akabeko this morning, that means that I won’t have to come up with a pretext of a lesson today and can just sit and relax._   Kaoru dragged herself to the porch and sat down, leaning against a post.  All she had the energy to do was close her eyes.  The exhaustion of her self-imposed semi-starvation combined with the intense exercise she had been trying to continue was taking its toll on her system.  Now it was all she could do to get through Yahiko’s lessons without getting weak and trembling.  Fortunately, she was being careful not to push herself so far that she was in danger of passing out again.  She knew that the moment she fainted there was no force on earth that was going to keep Kenshin from dragging in Doctor Gensei, and the moment he did that Kaoru’s secret would be out.

“Kaoru-dono there you are.”

Kaoru’s eyes snapped open to see Kenshin smiling pleasantly at her with Megumi coming up behind him carrying around her case for when she made house calls.

“Kenshin, Megumi, did you just come from a patient’s home to visit us?” Kaoru asked politely.

“Actually Kenshin asked me to come here for you, apparently he’s worried that you’re coming down with something.” Megumi answered smoothly as she sat down next to Kaoru, set her case down, and was about to feel Kaoru’s forehead.

Kaoru jerked her head away and got to her feet in a rush that made her light headed but she clenched her teeth as she stood her ground and glared at Kenshin.  “Kenshin what about ‘just drop it’ did you not understand?”  Kaoru growled.

“Kaoru-dono you have obviously not been well, and Yahiko told me about how you nearly passed out, that he did.  So if you don’t mind this one would appreciate if you let Megumi-dono take a look at you.”  Kenshin told her simply, the glint in his eye however stated that he was deadly serious.

“Like hell I will!” Kaoru yelled with clenched fists.  “There is nothing wrong with me Kenshin!”

“Oh Kaoru stop being such a baby this will only take a few minutes, besides you are awfully pale,” Megumi pointed out.

“This one is going to insist,” Kenshin persisted in a firm tone.

“You’re going to what?” Kaoru replied with a step forward, completely ignoring Megumi’s presence.  The only time Kenshin had taken such a tone with her is when it came to keeping her out of a fight.

“This one is insisting, so please sit down and let Megumi-dono do her job.” Kenshin repeated with a dangerous look in his eyes.

Kaoru’s eyes narrowed, her instinct was to fight with Kenshin on the matter but she knew she didn’t have the strength for that so she made the next logical decision, she turned and made a run for it.  Kenshin was ready for that, he leaped forward and grabbed the back of her kimono, and she fell backwards into him.  Kaoru reacted by twisting and trying to elbow Kenshin to get him to let her go but Kenshin also anticipated that action from her.  He grabbed her arms as she brought them up to her chest before striking him and pin them down.  Kaoru struggled in vain against his firm grasp to no avail.

“This one prefers if he didn’t have to use force but if you insist this one will do what is necessary,” Kenshin told her as he held on to her firmly.

“Even my most unwilling patients aren’t this bad,” Megumi exclaimed in wonder as Kaoru struggled against Kenshin who was dragging her over to Megumi.  _This brings a whole new meaning to the phase ‘kicking and screaming’._

“Kenshin let go, you’re hurting me,” Kaoru protested in a pleading voice, hoping that he would let go and she would get another shot for freedom, however he only loosened his grip a fraction but still held on too tight for Kaoru to break loose.  _Damn, time for plan two, if this doesn’t work then I’m going to have to get creative._   Kaoru suddenly let her whole body go limp, pretending to have fainted.

“Kaoru-dono,” Kenshin gasped in surprise as he was suddenly supporting her whole weight.

“What happened?” Megumi asked in astonishment as she came up next to Kenshin who was shifting his grip to get a better hold of Kaoru to keep her from falling.

“I think she fainted, that I do.”  Kenshin replied right before Kaoru’s elbow caught him solidly in the diaphragm and knocked all the breath out of him.  Quick as lightening, Kaoru dashed away from them and out the gate.  Megumi kneeled next to Kenshin who collapsed to his knees, struggling to regain his breath. 

“Are you sure she’s sick?”  Megumi asked in wonder and Kenshin gave her on expression that clearly told her that he was reconsidering the idea as well.  Megumi looked up to where Kaoru had disappeared, “if so I wish all my sick patients had as much energy as her.”


	3. Too Good to be True

**Chapter 2**

**Too Good to be True**

Sanosuke walked down the street, his stomach painfully empty.  _It’s almost lunchtime, the guys have got have something ready by now,_ Sanosuke thought to himself.  He had to duck out of Tokyo when the dreaded taxes were being collected.  If he had been around the government would have tried to part him from some of his hard-earned money (most of it obtained through actions of questionable legality) and that was something Sanosuke refused to do.  It wasn’t just because it would be helping the Meiji government, something that Sanosuke abhorred, but it was also the principle of the matter.  Sanosuke refused to let anyone take his money without a fight.  But now that taxes were over Sanosuke had resurfaced once again, and since he had no food and was hungry he naturally turned to his constant source of steady meals for the past few months, Kaoru’s dojo.  He turned in the gates of the dojo and walked up the walkway to the backyard where Kenshin was washing laundry and Yahiko was lounging on the porch. 

“Sanosuke, I see you finally surfaced again,” Kenshin commented as Sanosuke sat down on the porch next to Yahiko, who merely grunted to acknowledge Sanosuke’s presence.  Sanosuke caught an odd note in Kenshin’s voice that said not all was well.

“Kenshin what’s up, is something wrong?”  Sanosuke asked in slight concern.

Kenshin pursed his lips and looked away.  Sanosuke looked to Yahiko for answers but the answer was soon clear when Kaoru came around the corner with a bucket in her hand.  She walked right past everyone as though they weren’t there and drew up some water from the well next to where Kenshin was.

“Kaoru-dono,” Kenshin started but Kaoru just dumped the water into her bucket and stalked past Kenshin as though he wasn’t even there.

“Oh so we’re having a lover’s quarrel, that explains it,” Sanosuke commented as Kaoru disappeared out of sight.  “What on earth did you do to get the silent treatment?”

“He showed up with Megumi.”  Yahiko muttered.

“Kenshin,” Sanosuke teased with a sparkle in his eye, always enjoying the chance to get in a few digs on Kenshin.  “I thought you were smarter than that, don’t you know not to parade your women around each other?  You have to keep them separate at all times. The best practice is of course if they don’t even know each other but it’s a little late for you on that front.”

Kenshin made a face at him, “it wasn’t anything like that and you know it,” Kenshin snapped.  “Megumi-dono was only here to give Kaoru-dono an examine.”

“Why is something wrong with her?” Sanosuke asked in concern, dropping his good humor at once, and trying to prevent himself from making another nasty comment on that remark as he could sense Kenshin wasn’t really in the mood.

“That was what Kenshin brought Megumi over for, but it didn’t turn out quite as he had planned,” Yahiko injected.

“What happened?”

“She hit this one and then made a run for it and disappeared for about an hour, then when she finally came back she’s been acting like that, that she has,” Kenshin finished, scrubbing a towel with unnecessary violence.

“Kenshin I hate to tell you but if Kaoru was able to get away from you then she’s probably not on death’s door,” Sanosuke pointed out.

“Now you sound like Megumi-dono, that you do.”  Kenshin commented, a slight look from the corner of his eye.

“You take that the hell back right now!” Sanosuke snapped in fury with a clenched fist.  “There is no way I’ll ever be compared to that witch!”

Kenshin and Yahiko started laughing and Sanosuke fumed but he couldn’t hold his anger for long and soon he was laughing too.

Suddenly Yahiko groaned as his stomach rumbled, “man I’ve never been so hungry before, is lunch almost ready?”

“You’re hungry?” Sanosuke asked with a raised eyebrow, “I haven’t had anything to eat since the day before.”

“I really want some eel,” Yahiko whined.

“I wouldn’t mind having some tempura,” Sanosuke mused, his mouth starting to water.

“How ‘bout lobster!” Yahiko injected brightly, his eyes glowing at the thought.

“This one would like some beef hot pot, it’s been so long since we’ve had some,” Kenshin sighed.

Kaoru set lunch down in the front room and caught the men’s banter from the yard.  She felt the hackles on the back of her neck rise at the conversation.  _What can they possibly be complaining so much about?  At least they haven’t been having to starve to make sure everyone else is well fed,_ she fumed and then immediately regretted it.  _Of course they don’t know the real situation so it’s not really their fault if they complain about the bland fare we’re been living on._ “All right lunch is ready,” Kaoru yelled.

The words were barely out of her mouth before the door was flung open and Sanosuke and Yahiko came tumbling into the room with Kenshin on their heels wiping his wet hands on his kimono.  They all stared in shock at the meal laid out.

“Is this a joke or something?” Sanosuke asked in disbelief as he stared at the single fish on a tray.

“I know that times have been tough but come on where’s the rest of it?”  Yahiko pleaded in shock.

“Sorry guys but this is what you get, so split it between the three of you, I’ve got to go out and run some errands now,” Kaoru huffed, as upset about the meal as they were.  _You guys think I like having nothing to feed you?_   She walked off to her room to grab a few things before going out and the moment she was out of the room the inevitable fight over food broke out.

“I get the middle,” Yahiko called as he reached for the tray.

“Wait a minute,” Sanosuke stopped Yahiko by grabbing his wrist.  “Let’s talk about this.”

“I called it, it’s mine!” Yahiko shouted in a snarl.

Kenshin rubbed his head as Yahiko and Sanosuke started wrestling.  “I’ll take the head if that’s all right with you two?” he offered hesitantly, not feeling up to breaking up the fight.

“Wait a sec Kenshin,” Sanosuke injected as he held Yahiko in a death grip, temporarily immobilizing the boy.  “The head might be a good piece.”

“What does it matter?  You’re getting the tail you lousily free loader.”  Yahiko snarled as he wiggled out of Sanosuke’s grasp when he was distracted talking to Kenshin.

“What did you call me?” Sanosuke roared and fight grew more intense.  Kenshin stepped forward to break up the fight before either one hurt the other. 

“Besides you don’t need the food as much as me, I’m just a kid and still growing,” Yahiko pointed out as he struggled against Sanosuke’s greater bulk and strength.

“Kids should just eat the plate and deal with it,” Sanosuke growled.

“Now, now you two,” Kenshin started before a black streak darted out from the inner portions of the house and past Kenshin.  He turned in horror to see the cat, Freckles, with the fish firmly clamped in his jaw looking at Kenshin with big eyes.  “FRECKLES NO!” Kenshin shouted as he dived for the cat. 

Sanosuke and Yahiko, realizing the situation, stopped their fight and also tried to apprehend Freckles.  Unfortunately, Freckles was far too skilled in evading capture when food was involved and though the men all ran after him, Freckles disappeared with his meal to some unknown corner to enjoy the fruits of his hunt.

“Damn that fur ball!” Sanosuke kicked a rock in anger.

Yahiko sighed, “looks like we’re going to have to cook our own lunch, let’s go make some rice or something.”

The guys agreed and made their way into the kitchen.  They opened the rice barrel and stared with shock into the barrel that was spotlessly clean of a single grain of rice.  The men collapsed in disappointment at the sight. 

“That lousily Kaoru, this is all her fault.  Why didn’t she buy some more rice?”  Yahiko whined.

“Whose fault is it?” Kaoru’s frosty voice cut through the air and all three men straighten up, cringing and turned to face her.  “I’m putting up two borders who don’t pay me a single sen, plus one freeloader.  All of you are eating the food that I buy with my hard earned money while you three do absolutely nothing.”  Kaoru pointed out coldly.  The men slowly stood up looking uncomfortably at each other.  “How can you spend every day lounging around here doing nothing and let the food be put on the table by a woman?” Kaoru demanded.  “And what was that about lobster?” she added with a special look at Yahiko.  “How can you complain when you haven’t contributed one damn thing?”

As one, the three turned and started making their way towards the outside door.  “Just where do you think you’re going?” Kaoru screamed at them.

“I’ve got to go to the bathroom,” Yahiko answered quickly with a nervous grin.

“I just remembered an important errand that I have to run,” Sanosuke added.

“The laundry still needs to be done,” Kenshin smiled hesitantly.

Then they all bolted for the door as the gleam in Kaoru’s eyes turned dangerous.  “Damn you three!” She screamed and judging by the crashing sound the three made it out just in time.  None of them stopped running until they were down by the river.

“So do you think it’ll be safe to go back in three hours or four?” Yahiko asked as he panted to catch his breath again after the mad dash.

“Four, definitely four,” Sanosuke commented before he thought about it.  “Maybe five, the Missy is way past ticked today.”

“Kaoru did make a pretty good point I suppose about us not really helping in putting food on the table and then complaining about it,” Yahiko muttered as the three started off down the road, wandering aimlessly into town.

“Perhaps this one has been relaying far too much on Kaoru-dono, that I have,” Kenshin moaned unhappily later as the three drew closer to the harbor area.  _No wonder she’s so unhappy.  I haven’t really paid her anything for putting me up.  And with no students how hard has it been for her to make ends meet?  I know we haven’t had that much money but I must not have realized how bad things really were._

“But my questions is this,” Sanosuke started.  “How does she expect any of us to make money just like that?” he asked with a snap of his fingers to emphasize his point.  “It’s not like jobs are that easy to come by at the moment, there are way too many people looking for work.”

“And we don’t really have any skills other than the fact that we’re all good martial artists,” Yahiko agreed.

“We?” Sanosuke asked with a raised eyebrow, “me and Kenshin sure, but you’re still just a kid.”

Yahiko glared back but before he could retort the group rounded a corner to find a crowd gathering as a man stood on some crates making an announcement.

“…we’re looking for some strong men, it’s hard work, but the pay is good.  If you’re interested head over to the Senbonya Trade House down the way to hear more details about the job,” the man announced to the group.

“What’s going on?” Sanosuke asked with furrowed brows, _did the answer to everything just drop in our lap?_   He wondered.  _This has to be too good to be true._

“You’ll make at least 40 yen,” the man continued.  “Depending on how good you are you could make 100 or even 200 yen!”

“A 100 yen!” they gasped in surprise.  “Even 200 yen!”  One glance between the three and the decision was made.  They all made their way with quick feet to the Senbonya Trade House.

***

 Kenshin had left the dojo with the rising of the sun with much fussing from Kaoru about whether he had remembered to pack everything and remainders to take care of himself and not let Sanosuke get him into any trouble.  Yahiko had to keep from rolling his eyes during the whole exchange as Kenshin seemed a little uncomfortable by the all the mothering when Kaoru flicked imaginary dust off Kenshin’s kimono before he finally left.

“Your parents really named you the wrong thing you know that?” Yahiko stated as Kenshin disappeared in the distance.

“What do you mean by that?” Kaoru replied in confusion.

“They really should have called you mother hen, worry wort, or something like that,” Yahiko replied.  “Kenshin can take care of himself you know, you don’t have to mother everyone all the time.”

Kaoru wrinkled her nose up at him, “You’re just upset because the guys won’t let you tag along with them aren’t you?”

Yahiko looked away, angry that his feelings were so obvious to her.  “What of it?” he muttered.

Kaoru smiled slightly with a tip of her head, “how would you like to join them, with my permission?”

That got Yahiko’s attention and his head spun around with such force that Kaoru was mildly surprised that it was still attached to his neck, “what?!” he gasped.  “Do you mean that Kaoru?”

“I don’t see why you can’t join them, after all if this job is as boring as they say then why shouldn’t you?”  Kaoru started, but before she could go on Yahiko ran back to the house in his excitement.  Kaoru shook her head with a smile and walked slowly back to the house and into Yahiko’s room where Yahiko was hurriedly stuffing clothes and odds and ends into a bag.  “Make sure that you get everything that you need Yahiko,” Kaoru remained him.

“Yeah, yeah, I know how to take care of myself mother hen,” Yahiko snapped in reply as he forced the items in the bag into the smallest space necessary.

_At least it’s better than ugly old tanuki,_ Kaoru thought to herself.  “And one more thing Yahiko, you have to remember to practice your drills every day, have Kenshin watch you so that he can correct any mistakes, I want you to be able to go through them perfectly by the time you get back, especially that new one,” Kaoru told him in a tone that brook no argument.

“No problem, thanks Kaoru, see you in two weeks,” Yahiko told her in a rush as he grabbed up his bag, straighten his shinai strapped across his back, gave her a quick hug and ran out of the house after Kenshin. 

“And be careful,” Kaoru yelled after him but she wasn’t sure that Yahiko even heard her.  She shook her head, _now my turn,_ Kaoru thought to herself.  She walked to her room where she had her own bag packed, she did a quick walk around the grounds to make sure that everything was shut up, threw a few treats to Freckles, giving him one last rub before she locked up the gates.  She made her way into town where she left the key with Tae who assured her that Nobuyuki would look in on things while she was gone before she set off on her own journey.  _What a stroke of good luck that the guys got this job, it makes things so much easier if I don’t have to explain why I’ll be gone for awhile,_ Kaoru thought happily to herself.

***

Sanosuke leaned back against the wall of the deck with Kenshin sitting next to him, his sword propped against his shoulder.  “Now this is the way to travel,” Sanosuke remarked to himself.  He turned with a happy grin to see Kenshin’s drawn and worried face, “what’s wrong?” he asked in concern.

“This one is not sure that I thought this all the way through, that I’m not,” Kenshin moaned.

“Umm… Kenshin the ship has left harbor, this is kind of a little late to be thinking like that isn’t it?  Besides, why would you say that?”

“Are you sure that Kaoru-dono and Yahiko will be all right?  After all we’ll be gone for a while, that we will,” Kenshin asked in worry.

Sanosuke rolled his eyes, _mother hen number two, give him a few more months and Kenshin’s going to be worse than the Missy about mothering everyone._ “Kenshin, the girl was living on her own long before you ever showed up, and Yahiko too.  They’ll be fine, don’t worry about it.  Kaoru is as we speak, probably smacking Yahiko around for insulting her.”

“That may be true but…” Kenshin started before he glanced around at the sound of raised voices.

“…what’s a brat like you going to do then?  Cry for your mommy?” a coarse voice asked.

“Anytime, anywhere loser, you and me,” a familiar voice answered back.

Kenshin and Sanosuke glanced at each other in alarm, instantly recognizing the owner of the voice.  They were on their feet in an instant and pushing their way through the circle of men who had formed around the impending fight.

“A brat like you isn’t even worth my time,” the man scoffed.

Kenshin and Sanosuke managed to push their way through the crowd to see Yahiko’s face flush at the latest insult, one hand on the shinai strapped to his back, and his other hand clenching a bag.

“Same to you jackass,” Yahiko returned.

“Yahiko Myojin you have some explaining to do, that you do,” Kenshin growled as he stepped between Yahiko and the man, glaring at Yahiko.

“Yeah, like what you’re doing on board and not at home with the Missy,” Sanosuke added as he stepped forward.

“You two know this kid?” a man asked the two.

“Yeah and we’ll handle this, the show’s over guys,” Sanosuke announced with a crack of his knuckles and slowly the crowd started to disperse.

“Yahiko,” Kenshin repeated, seemingly unaware of the crowd dispersing around him as he crossed his arms, “what are you doing here?”

Yahiko shrugged unconcern, after months of living with Kaoru he was used to being chewed out about the simplest thing, “Kaoru said I could tag along with you guys so I showed up.”

“They let you on board?” Sanosuke asked, incredulously.  “What story did you give them to make them do something like that?”

“The truth, that I’m here to work as a guard,” Yahiko replied simply.

“And they bought that?”

“Well they did after I beat up two of the port guards, then they just laughed and said ‘if the kid has a death wish so be it’ and they let me on.”

“Why aren’t you at home with Kaoru-dono?” Kenshin growled, seemingly unamused by Yahiko’s tale, Sanosuke on the other hand was grinning broadly.

Yahiko rolled his eyes, “I’m covering your ass’s that’s what.  Kaoru said that if your job wasn’t really that dangerous then I should go ahead and tag along.  Said that she didn’t want me moping about the place or anything.  If I hadn’t come then Kaoru would have suspected something, and you two know what would happen if she thought you two were doing anything dangerous and left her out of the loop.”

“Yahiko Myojin watch your tongue,” Kenshin snapped at him in rage.  “This one may not be Kaoru-dono but that doesn’t mean that you can swear, that it doesn’t.”

“Come on Kenshin, lighten up,” Sanosuke protested, but Kenshin just turned to glare at him coldly.

“Well there’s nothing you can do about me being here now,” Yahiko pointed out, “the ship’s in the harbor now and they’re not going to turn back.”

“You know I think you’ve been spending too much time with Kaoru, you’re starting to act like her,” Sanosuke commented with a tilt of his head at Kenshin.

“You mean like a responsible adult?” Kenshin snapped.

“Exactly, besides Yahiko has a point, nothing we can do now.  We’ll just have to make the best of the situation.”  Sanosuke reasoned.

Kenshin sighed, “you’re right, that you are.”  He glanced at Yahiko.  “You are to stay with Sanosuke or this one at all times, and especially if there is fighting, do you understand?”

Yahiko nodded with a grin, “got it.  Don’t worry.  This is a Team Kenshin project.”

As they turned to go back to the little nook on the deck that Kenshin and Sanosuke had carved out for themselves, Sanosuke whispered under his breath to Kenshin, “we really need to do something about this ‘Team Kenshin’ thing, next thing you know the Missy’s going to show up.”

Kenshin rolled his eyes, “this one doubts it, Kaoru-dono doesn’t even know where we are, why would she come?”


	4. Truth or Dare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the late posting, I had to work this weekend and things got pretty crazy there so this took me longer than expected to get these chapter ready to put up, hopefully you all enjoy this and the next bonus chapter for the holidays.

**Chapter 3**

**Truth or Dare**

“Grab that pot and start boiling up the rice!” the cook ordered and Kaoru leapt to obey.  She obligingly grabbed the large and heavy pot and placed it over the stove, scooping out cupfuls of rice and dumping them in water.  She panted from a combination of the heat in the tiny kitchen, the work, and the stifling air.  She felt the sweat clinging to her face and neck and she longed for a cool breeze of fresh air, or a wet rag to rub against the back of her neck.  Neither was forthcoming as the cook shouted orders at her in rapid secession and Kaoru numbly obeyed, trying to keep track of the commands as she searched the tiny and unfamiliar kitchen for the instruments she needed.  _There has to be a better way of making a little extra money,_ she thought glumly.  _I hope the guys are having a better time than I am._

_***_

Sanosuke turned his face upwards towards the sun as he lounged on the deck, letting the cool sea breeze sweep over him as he deeply inhaled the salt air.  “Man, this is one beautiful day,” he commented happily. 

“Whooped dee do,” Yahiko moaned.  Sanosuke turned to look at him and noticed that the boy had turned a distinct shade of green.

“What’s the matter, you sick?” Sanosuke asked. 

Yahiko looked at him with dead eyes, “what do you think?”

“Maybe some food will help calm your stomach,” Kenshin suggested as Yahiko laid back down on the deck.

“We’re barely even out to sea, how can you be sea sick already?” Sanosuke asked incredulously.

“Sanosuke I swear, the moment the world stops swaying I’m going to beat you black and blue,” Yahiko told him glumly.

Sanosuke took a good look at the boy who seemed unable to rise from the deck, “knock yourself out kid.”

“All right men, its lunch time!”

Even Yahiko’s head perked up a little at the call and the three of them hurried to get in line amidst the pushing and shoving of men jockeying for a position.  It took awhile before some resemblance of order formed a line.  They slowly made their way up the line to the front where the cook was scooping food into bowls for the men who were serving as guards.  It was once the three were drawing near the head of the line that they heard the whispers of those in front.

“There’s a woman on this boat?”

“Damn she’s pretty, guess we might not have to wait for them pirates to get some action around here.”

Sanosuke glanced at Kenshin who looked at him in equal surprise.  Sanosuke tried to crane his neck around to see the girl who was helping the cook serve food but he couldn’t see past the heads in his way.  Judging from the whispers ahead of them, she had to be young and good looking.  He glanced back at Kenshin and they both shared a thought, _what would a pretty girl be doing on a ship filled with dozens of rough men that may be attacked by pirates at any moment?_

 _Man, I’ll die laughing if it’s Kaoru,_ Yahiko thought with a glance at Kenshin.  _These two would so be dead if Kaoru knew what they were really up to._

 _Great now I have to spend the whole of this trip trying to keep Sanosuke in line when we might be attacked any moment by pirates,_ Kenshin thought glumly.  _Who did I piss off in a previous life?_

 _Pirates and chicks,_ Sanosuke mused.  _This job just keeps getting better and better._

“So hey little lady, what do you say to you and me going someplace private for a chat?” a man ahead of them leered at the woman.

The girl muttered some reply that Sanosuke didn’t catch but it was clearly a no as the man growled in rage.

“What did you just call me?” he roared.

He drew back his hand as if to strike the woman but Sanosuke took a step forward and grabbed his arm before he could land the strike.  Before the man could react to Sanosuke, Kenshin stepped between him and the woman, facing the man with his hand on his sword.  “This one does not believe that she was interested.”

“You should learn to handle rejection like the rest of us,” Sanosuke finished as he shoved the man aside.  The man stumbled and glared at the two before straightening his kimono, taking his food, and leaving.

Kenshin straightened up as the man left and turned to face the woman, “I hope he did not brother you…” Kenshin trailed off as his mouth fell open in recognition.  Sanosuke felt as though he had just been hit by a ton of bricks. 

 _This is the chick?  Man I just knew there was going to be a catch to this trip,_ Sanosuke sighed internally before glancing at Kenshin.  _But it could be interesting in other ways._

Yahiko glanced between the woman and Kenshin who were both staring at each other in shock, Yahiko knew that he should be interested in the situation, or at the very least amused, but at the moment he couldn’t care as the ship’s rocking had increased and in correspondence his nausea, he moaned in pain.

“Kaoru-dono?” Kenshin gasped in surprise.

“Kenshin?” Kaoru practically squeaked.

The moment might have lasted indefinitely but the tension was broken when Yahiko’s stomach could take it no longer and he doubled over, much to Sanosuke’s dismay.

“Hey you’re supposed to do that over the side, not on my foot!” Sanosuke grabbed the boy’s collar and nearly threw him over the railing. 

That action recalled Kaoru to her task and she snatched up three bowls and filled them with food shoving them into Kenshin and Sanosuke’s hands.  “Next,” she called and Kenshin and Sanosuke were quickly shoved out of the way by the line of hungry men behind them.

“Kaoru-dono,” Kenshin continued, seemingly unaware that by now Sanosuke had dragged him over to the rails where Yahiko was still retching. 

“Well what do you know?  The Missy got the word about the Team Kenshin meeting after all.  Guess we better invent some kind of code to keep the word from getting out like this,” Sanosuke mused as he shoved one of the bowls he held into Kenshin’s hand and started to eat his own lunch.

“Kaoru-dono,” Kenshin repeated in the same shocked tone, now gesturing with his hands while still gripping the bowls of food.

Sanosuke calmly finished his lunch, meanwhile Yahiko’s stomach had finally settled and the boy was sitting with his back to the rails.  “What is Kaoru doing here?” Yahiko questioned.

Sanosuke shrugged, “guess we ask after she’s done serving lunch, if we try before there may be a riot if those guys don’t get fed.”

“Kaoru-dono,” Kenshin was still staring in the direction of where Kaoru was serving lunch.  Sanosuke and Yahiko rolled their eyes.

“You know, it’s at moments like this I wonder how he ever survived the revolution.  If an enemy found him in this state he’d be easy pickings,” Sanosuke commented.

“Kaoru-dono,” Kenshin repeated, seemingly forgetting the rest of his vocabulary.

“Is he ever going to stop saying that?  He’s going to wear her name out if he does,” Yahiko complained.

“But Kaoru-dono,” Kenshin struggled to pull his jumbled thoughts into some kind of coherent idea but he keep tripping up on the thought of Kaoru on the ship with them.

Sanosuke sighed, “nope, I don’t think he’s going to stop Yahiko.”

***

Kaoru didn’t have to look up to identify the presence behind her.  “You know it’s creepy to stand in the shadows and watch a girl right?”

“But it’s my specialty,” Sanosuke retorted with a grin as he, Kenshin, and Yahiko strolled forward.  Kaoru sighed and put her hands on her hips as she faced the three of them. 

“What are you doing here Kaoru-dono?” Kenshin asked, having recovered from his previous state.

“I could ask the same of you three,” Kaoru retorted in anger, her eyes flashing.  “You said this job you were taking was no danger at all.  What are you doing on a ship that will probably be attacked by pirates?”

“We’re here to make some money and a hefty amount too, why are you here?” Sanosuke replied with a piercing gaze.  He eyed her up and down from the apron she wore to protect her clothes, her sleeves tied back, and a cloth wrapped around her hair.

Kaoru slowly blushed, she turned away from the three and kneeled down next to washtub and started scrubbing the pots, pans, bowls, and other utensils used for lunch.  “Same as you, working,” she repeated in a small voice.

“But don’t you have lessons to give in Tokyo?” Kenshin asked as they settled down next to her.

Kaoru bit her lip before looking at them again, “look I know that you want to know why I’m here, but you can’t stay.”

“Why not?” Yahiko asked.

“Because if the cook sees you in here he’ll have your skin, he made it clear no fraternizing.”  She hissed at them.

“This isn’t fraternizing, I know fraternizing and believe me this isn’t it,” Sanosuke told her.

Kaoru gave him a hard look.  Kenshin decided to be diplomatic, “what if we help some?  Then maybe he won’t be so quick to judge the situation.”

Kaoru protested but in the end the three ended up helping her with Kaoru dryly informing them that if the cook came back she would scream bloody murder.  They helped to scrub the dishes clean, whispering to keep the cook from hearing while they others explained how they came to be aboard. 

“So then when we heard how much he was willing to pay it was a no brainer, Kenshin figured if he brought home some money he might live till morning,” Sanosuke finished as he wrapped up the explanation.

 _Sanosuke always tells an interesting version of the story,_ Kenshin thought to himself, _and why am I the only one who doesn’t believe that Kaoru-dono is out to murder all of us in our sleep?  She would wait until we’re awake and armed, haven’t the others figured that out yet?_

“So why are you here Kaoru, I thought you were staying at the dojo?”  Yahiko asked in curiosity, still slightly green from his former bout of seasickness.

Kaoru sighed and lowered her head, “I’m here for the money of course.  When I heard that you two were taking off for a while on a job I thought this would work out perfectly if I could get Yahiko to go along, that way you wouldn’t have to know that I had to get this job.”

“But why did you have to get the job?  You’ve been feeding us just fine with those lessons you give,” Sanosuke protested.  “I don’t get why you have to be here in the first place.”

Kaoru gave them a pained look, “taxes.”  She stared at three blank stares before she realized that none of them had paid the taxes and so they wouldn’t know anything more than the rumors.  “Taxes took almost every sen I had, I didn’t even have enough to buy the food we needed that night.  So I had to borrow some money from Tae to tie us over until I got paid,” Kaoru admitted shamefully.

“Huh?” Yahiko tipped his head and giving Kaoru a look.  “Why didn’t you ask me for some money first?  I have a little saved from working at the Akabeko.”

Kaoru’s head shot up to face Yahiko, “I couldn’t do that, that money is yours, you earned it,” she protested.

“All right putting your insanity aside for the moment,” Sanosuke injected preventing Yahiko from telling Kaoru that she was crazy for not asking him for money first, “so you had to borrow a little cash, how do you go from that, to working here?”

Kaoru bit her lip, “I didn’t get paid.”  She took a deep breath before continuing.  “Master Maekawa didn’t have the money to pay me after taxes.  He was hit as hard as most people were.  So I didn’t have any money left for food and I had to look for a job outside the dojo and I found this.  I might even be able to pay Tae back from the money I’m earning here.”

“That is why you took over the cooking,” Kenshin injected softly, everyone turned to stared at him as he looked at Kaoru earnestly.  “So that you could stretch the food as far as you could, and to help you did not let yourself eat your fill, isn’t that right Kaoru-dono?”

Kaoru nodded slightly, “I couldn’t let you two starve, and I knew that if you knew what was going on there would be a big argument about it and my solution was simpler than anything you guys could come up with.”

Kenshin just nodded in reply, the answer for Kaoru’s recent behavior and her lack of energy now painfully obvious, he had seen the effects of starvation before as well as experiencing it himself and now he was wondering how he had missed the signs.

“Hey Sanosuke I don’t see you doing anything!” Kaoru snapped as she suddenly realized that Sanosuke had been ‘supposedly’ drying the same pan for ten minutes.

Sanosuke gulped and quickly moved onto the next dish. 

“But Kaoru-dono, don’t you realize how dangerous it is for you here?” Kenshin protested.

Kaoru shook her head, “trust me, those guys on deck will have as much luck getting me alone as Freckles becoming the Emperor of Japan.  I’ve dealt with those types before.  If all else fails I use my tanto to persuade them.”

“That’s not what this one was talking about,” Kenshin answered dryly.  “I meant from the Kairyu pirates, that I did.”

“Yeah after all they are known for their violence, not their manners.  A girl like you might be in danger of getting your knuckles bloody after they had a bite of your cooking,” Sanosuke laughed before Kaoru smacked him across the back of his head.

“Sano,” Kenshin growled in frustration, “you are not helping.”

“Kenshin, there’s nothing we can do now,” Yahiko pointed out, “like with me, you’re stuck with her being here too.  Honestly, all we can do now is look out for each other and if a fight does come, have each other’s backs.”

“So long as you’re not my wing man kid, I should live through this,” Sanosuke teased.

 _Why do I even try being the voice of reason with them?_   Kenshin wondered as Kaoru had to move forward to pull Yahiko off of Sanosuke who was laughing and shouting good-natured insults at the boy.  _They are impossible to deal with in situations like this._

_***_

Sanosuke, Yahiko, and Kenshin sat out on the deck in their little corner.  “Man that cook has a nasty temper,” Sanosuke commented as he rubbed the back of his hands from where the cook had hit him with a metal ladle.

“You think we got Kaoru in a lot of trouble back there?” Yahiko asked.

“Considering she told him that we forced our way in, this one thinks she will not be blamed much,” Kenshin added.

“Well at least she told us that she would sell us out before she did it,” Sanosuke commented.  “Not many chicks do that, kind of considerate of her actually.”

“So who all feels like an ass after that confession?” Yahiko asked glumly.

“I know this one does,” Kenshin moaned, _why didn’t she tell me what was going on?  I could have tried to find some kind of work sooner to help out._

It took a moment before Kenshin and Yahiko realized that they were the only ones to respond, they glanced up at Sanosuke who was busy yawning.  “Hey don’t look at me,” Sanosuke responded with wide eyes.  “I just showed up yesterday, I didn’t eat any of the food, that was all on you two.”

“Well I was planning on keeping my earnings to myself but after that I’m giving it all to Kaoru,” Yahiko declared.

Kenshin shook his head with a smile, “this one was already planning on doing that before the truth of the situation was known.”  Again a moment of silence before the two looked at Sanosuke.

Sanosuke sighed tragically at their stares, “all right she can have a third.”

“Sano,” Kenshin warned dangerously.

“All right half, but only if you come gambling with me Kenshin and help me win back the difference,” Sanosuke countered and Kenshin agreed with a sigh.

“You know that you’re a complete scoundrel right Sano?” Yahiko asked in amusement.

“Part of the charm,” Sanosuke bragged and Kenshin rolled his eyes. 

They all sat back to enjoy the cool afternoon (and Yahiko tried to get over his nausea), and listened to the conversations of the men around them.  It started first with bragging over what they would do with the money once they got home but eventually evolved into talk about the actual pirates themselves.

“Oh please, you want me to believe in ghost stories?  They can’t just appear out of nowhere, it just must have been that nobody saw them in the first place.”

“So they kill anyone who resists them?”

“They say the leader’s somebody named Shura.”

“That’s right, supposedly no one’s ever seen his face.  They say he sheds neither blood or tears and that he is some kind of demon.”

“Ryuu you’ve been hitting the saki hard if you really buy stuff like that.”

“They’re demons, why do you think they’re going to pay so much money for us?  It’s because no one can stop them.”

“People believe anything don’t they?” Sanosuke asked suddenly.  “They really think these guys are anything more than skilled fighters who know the sea?”

“What a bunch of babies,” Yahiko agreed.  Kenshin and Sanosuke glanced at Yahiko out of the corner of their eye and Yahiko wrinkled up his face at them.  “Got something to say?!”

“Nothing,” Kenshin and Sanosuke replied as they looked away with a smile while Yahiko fumed.

***

The next day on board passed peacefully.  Kenshin watched Yahiko as he went through his drills as promised, making few corrections and suggestions.  The men only saw Kaoru at meal times as she had strict orders to keep to the kitchen and away from the sailors and guards.  Kenshin and Sanosuke always got evil stares from the cook as they went through the line so they didn’t linger to talk to Kaoru.  Yahiko on the other hand was given more leeway because of his age.  He quickly made himself a regular feature in the kitchen area, offering to help out so that Kaoru could smuggle some more food to the boy as she knew the portions served to the men wouldn’t satisfy Yahiko’s appetite. 

“I have to admit, I’m really glad that Kaoru’s along on this trip,” Yahiko commented happily as he munched on the food Kaoru had managed to slip past the cook.  “She’s really the best sometimes.”

“You going to share any of that kid?” Sanosuke asked as he leered at Yahiko’s food. 

Yahiko clenched his food protectively to his chest, “not on your life.  Besides you just had dinner.”

“What if I tell the cook that you’ve been stealing food from the kitchen?  And what does the fact that we just ate have to do with you sharing?” Sanosuke countered, with a sigh Yahiko gave Sanosuke a couple of dumplings that disappeared in seconds.

“Kenshin you want any?” Yahiko asked brightly.

Kenshin just shook his head and looked away, not really wanting to speak with the others this evening.  He was too lost in his own thoughts, an endless circle of blame and guilt that he hadn’t seen the signs of Kaoru’s sacrifice before and how he had contributed so little to their life at the dojo. 

“Kenshin, something wrong?” Yahiko asked in concern.

Kenshin turned and forced a false smile, “nothing is wrong, this one did not sleep well last night, that I did not.”  It wasn’t exactly a lie, after all with Yahiko’s snoring Kenshin wondered how anyone had slept. 

“Hey Yahiko, aren’t you suppose to be practicing your drills?” Sanosuke injected suddenly.

Yahiko wrinkled up his face, “I did that this morning before you even got up lazy.”

Sanosuke shrugged in reply, “well if you want to be a master you’re going to have to practice for more than just an hour or so a day.  Ain’t that right Kenshin?”

“Practice never hurts,” Kenshin confirmed as he flashed back to a time he had been training hitting a study stick against a tree until it had rubbed all the skin off his palms and he had washed his hands in a stream to cool the burning sensation, _well not usually._

Yahiko glanced around the deck at the men who were sitting around while the sailors were busy adjusting the sails to better catch the wind, _well I didn’t want an audience but the dunce is right, besides there’s nothing else to do._

“So seriously Kenshin, what’s up?” Sanosuke asked softly after Yahiko had moved several feet away and was busy working through a drill, swinging his shinai and moving in a pattern around an unseen attacker.

“Nothing,” Kenshin responded softly.

“It’s Kaoru isn’t it?” Sanosuke persisted.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because usually when you get this down in the dumps Kaoru’s the reason,” Sanosuke pointed out.  Kenshin wanted to be able to argue that fact but he knew that Sanosuke had a point.

“This one should have seen what was going on before.  If this opportunity hadn’t of come up then how long would she have gone on like that before anyone found out?”  Kenshin asked in desperation.  “I have seen too many people starve themselves to death, that I have.”

“We have all seen people starve Kenshin,” Sanosuke pointed out harshly, “and sometimes we’ve been the ones doing the starving.  It’s part of life when you live from one pay out to the next.  Besides, no real harm’s been done here, from what Yahiko’s says, Kaoru is eating more than her fill at the moment.  If she keeps it up at this rate then your girl is going to be nice and fat when we get back to Tokyo.”

“She’s not my girl,” Kenshin corrected automatically, unconsciously keeping his eye on Yahiko and making mental notes of the boy’s movements, looking for any mistakes or weakness.

Sanosuke smirked in response, he flashed back to a moment several weeks before when they had been staying in Izu.

_Yutaro sat next to Sanosuke on the porch after having just returned from his daily practice with Kaoru at the old temple.  Meanwhile Kenshin and Kaoru were busy working in the garden trying to clean out the weeds that were spreading rapidly due to the recent rain.  “Sanosuke-san,” the boy started respectively, “can I ask you a question?”_

_“What about?” Sanosuke responded._

_Yutaro shifted slightly uncomfortably as he glanced quickly over to the garden area that was well out of earshot.  “I know that I’m just a guest here and I don’t quite understand the standing here, and I’m probably out of place asking this…”_

_“I don’t speak in riddles kid,” Sanosuke cut him off.  “If you want to say something then spit it out already.  I don’t stand on ceremony.”_

_Yutaro bit his lip, “well I’ve been watching for awhile now and I can’t figure out one relationship in particular, are Kenshin-san and Kaoru-sensei… well are they…?”  Yutaro trailed off uncomfortably.  “You know this is really none of my business,” the boy added hesitantly._

_“Yeah, Kaoru’s Kenshin’s girl,” Sanosuke had told the boy bluntly, ignoring his embarrassment on the subject.  “In all the ways that matter anyways, they’re just not together.”_

_Yutaro wrinkled up his face, “That doesn’t make any sense.”_

_Sanosuke shook his head, “welcome to the club kid, nobody’s made sense of that one.”_

 

Sanosuke studied Kenshin’s face carefully.  He had noticed something different between Kaoru and Kenshin ever since Izu.  They almost seemed to hold each other at a distance, a kind of formality that had never been there before.  “Did something happen between you and Kaoru that you guys aren’t talking about?”

Kenshin’s eyes opened in surprise, “like what?”  Sanosuke looked at him pointedly and Kenshin flushed red as he realized what Sanosuke was implying.  “Nothing like that Sano,” Kenshin responded quickly, insulted that his friend would ever think he would do something to hurt Kaoru’s honor.   “Kaoru-dono and this one don’t have that kind of relationship, that we don’t.”  _Sanosuke should know that for a woman of her class such a thing is unthinkable outside of marriage._

 _Well if you ever said anything to the girl that would change quick,_ Sanosuke thought, he knew that women of the samurai class were expected to remain chaste until marriage and he was well aware that Kenshin held Kaoru’s honor and well being even above his own.  _But if this idiot ever admitted to Kaoru how he feels, than the Missy would probably be sure that they married by the end of the year.  She just has that look of ‘settling down and arguing over color of the furnishings’ in her eye with Kenshin,_ it was a female trait that Sanosuke avoided like the plague and taxes.  “So why are you trying to live like a monk?  I mean when was the last time you were with a woman after all?”  Sanosuke baited, trying to get Kenshin to talk to him.

Kenshin got to his feet, “this one is not having this conversation right now.”

“That long huh?  You should have said something sooner, I could have helped you get a girl if you just said something.  Anything for a friend.”  Sanosuke prodded, still trying to get Kenshin to say something.

Kenshin gave Sanosuke a look, “let this one guess, this ‘help’ would involve this one paying for her time.”

“Not necessarily,” Sanosuke shrugged, “but if that’s the way you want to go I know all the classy joints in town.  You’ve got to be careful in those places.  Don’t want to get more than you paid for if you know what I mean.”

“Yes, I’m sure that your knowledge is extensive,” Kenshin replied as he rolled his eyes and walked away.

“Where you going?” Sanosuke shouted at Kenshin’s retreating back.

“To think in peace,” Kenshin retorted.  He walked past Yahiko who gave him a questioning look but continued through his drills.  Kenshin made his way to the prow of the ship and watched the slowly setting sun with the fresh sea breeze blowing his long bangs out of his face.  He observed the sea slowly slip past them, off to his left there was the shoreline far in the distance that slipped past as the ship headed out to the open sea.  He remembered what Sanosuke had asked, about if something had happened between him and Kaoru and he closed his eyes at the flash of memory of Kaoru speaking to Hana and Hotaru while Kenshin eavesdropped.  He remembered Kaoru telling them how she was in love but that she wished she wasn’t because of the distance between them. 

Kenshin sighed as he leaned against the railing.  It had confirmed Kenshin’s worst suspicions since he had started living with Kaoru, that she was in love with an old friend from her childhood, Yasu Takahashi, who was serving in the army in Satsuma.  Kenshin watched the sun dip below the horizon off to his right and the twilight set in and fade into night and still he didn’t leave his post.  He realized that now that he knew where Kaoru’s feelings lied he should leave and let her live her life but he couldn’t make himself.  He cared about her too much to leave her alone like that, and then there were the others who also depended on him.  And when it came down to it, Kenshin wasn’t sure that he could ever really leave the Kamiya dojo.  For the first time in years he was happy, truly happy, with his new little ‘family’ and he would do almost anything to keep things just the way they were.

His thoughts eventually turn to the problem that Kaoru presented by being on board the ship if the pirates attacked.  He knew that Kaoru wouldn’t stay out of the fight, she had been brought up to think of herself as a warrior first and a woman second.  Kenshin blamed it on the fact that she had spent most of her time around men and had few women whom she was close to. 

“Kenshin.”

Kenshin turned in surprise to see Kaoru looking at him shyly.  She had remove the apron and kerchief she usually wore while working around the food and was dressed in one of her simple work kimonos with a bright ribbon tying her hair back.

“Kaoru-dono,” he greeted her.  “What are you still doing up?” he asked as the ships bell tolled announcing that it was now ten o’clock. 

She shrugged her shoulders, “I’m not really used to being on a ship and it’s stifling below deck.  I thought I’d take the chance to get some fresh air while I could.  Is it the same with you?”

Kenshin shook his head as he turned back to face the sea.  “Not really, this one was just thinking, that I was.”

“Oh,” Kaoru came up and stood next to him, Kenshin tried to ignore how close she was standing to him, or how relatively alone they were on the deck.  “Were you thinking about the pirates then?” Kaoru inquired softly.

“As things stand now, they have an advantage over this one because they are used to fighting on the sea,” Kenshin responded.  He turned to her with a solemn expression.  “If this one had known that you were planning on boarding this ship Kaoru-dono then I would have stopped you, no matter the cost.”

Kaoru blushed, “are you mad at me then?” she asked in a worried tone.

“No,” Kenshin answered simply.  “But when the fight does come I ask that you stay out of it.  I wouldn’t want you to be in the way of the fighting, that I wouldn’t.”

Color flooded Kaoru’s face, “so I don’t get in your way?” she asked archly.  She was growing tired of Kenshin always trying to protect her, hating to think that he saw her only as a burden to bear.  “Trust me, I _won’t_ be in the way Kenshin,” Kaoru told him hotly before she realized that her hand had unconsciously moved onto one of Kenshin’s on the rail.  She blushed and tried to remove it but her pinkie caught his, “I’ll be all right whether you are around to protect me or not,” she continued in a rush as she struggled to free her hand from Kenshin’s as he stared at her in surprise.  “I’ll be just fine thank you,” she ended as she freed her hand and bowed to Kenshin, turning her back on him while she struggled to maintain her composure.

Kenshin stared at Kaoru’s back after her outburst, completely stunned and still feeling the heat from her skin on his hand after their encounter.  He shook his head trying to clear it.  “This has nothing to do with doubting your skills Kaoru-dono,” he started, trying to focus his mind on the conversation at hand.

“Then what is it?” Kaoru demanded as she turned to face him, certain that her composure could be mistaken for rage and not embarrassment.  “Why is that you always try to pat me on the head and tell me to mind the house while you run off and try to get yourself killed?”  _What if you were to revert to your hitokiri self in the heat of battle, who is going to be there to stop you Kenshin?  I was able to stop you before and I’ll do anything to keep you the rurouni that you really are._

 “Kaoru-dono, this one does not wish to see you hurt, if something were to happen…” Kenshin trailed off, a slight catch in his throat as he remembered the fate of another close to him.  _Why can’t she see that I could never forgive myself if something were to happen to her?_

Kaoru’s eyes narrowed, “you what?  Blame yourself?  If I want to be involved Kenshin then there’s nothing you can do it about.”  _Why can’t you see me as an equal?_

“Yes there is,” Kenshin shot back, his anger starting to surface.  “I won’t let you be involved, that I won’t.”  _I can’t stand it when you are in danger.  Nothing makes me loss control faster than seeing you in harms’ way._

“And by what authority?!” Kaoru demanded in rage, “what right do you have to tell me to do anything?”  _What makes him think that he can boss me around?_

“By every authority!” Kenshin retorted without thinking.  “A girl like you shouldn’t be involved in the first place.”  _You deserve to be the one protected, not always having to protect yourself!_

Kaoru snorted, “you don’t have any authority over me Kenshin.  You’re not my father, brother, husband, or lover.  In fact, when it comes down to it you’re nothing more than a border in _my_ home.  For free I’d like to add.  In fact, I’m the one who should be giving you orders if you think about it.”  _Arrogant jerk, who does he think he is anyways?  After everything I’ve done for him._

“If that’s the way that you feel then maybe this one shouldn’t burden you any longer,” Kenshin shouted back at her, losing his normal calm. 

“Maybe you should!” Kaoru screamed back.

With a clenched jaw, Kenshin stalked away in anger, leaving Kaoru standing alone in the dark.  He made his way back to their little corner where Yahiko and Sanosuke were already wrapped up in blankets sleeping.  Kenshin sat down next to them, trying to calm himself down after his fight.

“You know that if you keep yelling at Kaoru like that, your life span’s going to get a lot shorter right?” Sanosuke asked as he lifted his head and looked at Kenshin with bright eyes.

Kenshin sighed internally wishing that he would be left alone this one time but realizing that that it was no longer possible now.  “Keep your voice down or you’ll wake Yahiko,” Kenshin warned him in a whisper.

“I wasn’t sleeping yet,” Yahiko answered as he sat up with calm expression.  “After all they’re going to need someone to identify your body after Kaoru kills you.”

“I really wish you two would stop making fun of her like that, that I would,” Kenshin returned bitterly, he wasn’t in the mood for their teasing.

“This coming from the guy who has her so turned around as to his feelings towards her that she doesn’t know what to do or how to act around you anymore?” Yahiko asked in disbelief.  “Honestly Kenshin, you drive her crazy far more than us, and we work at it.”

“Seriously, why haven’t you made a move on her yet?  She’s easy on the eyes, got her own place, and goes out of her way to take care of you.” Sanosuke asked him pointedly.  “And don’t even pull an ‘I don’t think of her like that’ on me because even a blind man can see how you feel.”

“You can say that again,” Yahiko added with a roll of his eyes.  “I can’t even begin to list the number of people who thought you two were lovers and were completely flabbergasted when I said you weren’t.”

 _Am I really that obvious?_   Kenshin wondered.  “This one isn’t going to say anything to Kaoru-dono,” Kenshin told them miserably, “just let this drop please?”

“What’s the problem?” Yahiko asked in disbelief. 

Kenshin glanced at the two of them, realizing that they weren’t going to let this go until he told them the truth, “because she loves someone else.”

“Who?” they both gasped in shock.

“Her friend in the army, Yasu Takahashi.”  Kenshin told them simply, pleased that he was able to keep his emotions out of his voice for the moment.

There was a stunned silence for a moment before Sanosuke and Yahiko doubled over in laughter, “no really Kenshin, who the hell are you talking about?” Sanosuke laughed.

Kenshin stared at them disbelief, “that was not a joke.”

Sanosuke straighten up a little, “sure it was, why would you think that was true anyways?”

“Because she said so,” Kenshin defended feeling more than a little miffed that they had both thought that his pain was something to be laughed at.

“She what?” Yahiko asked with a look.  “I don’t believe that she did.”

“No way, the Missy couldn’t possibly say something like that,” Sanosuke supported.

“Yes she did,” Kenshin shot back in irritation.  “When we were in Izu, she was speaking with Hana-dono and Hotaru-dono and she told them.”

“What were you doing eavesdropping?” Sanosuke asked with a raised brow, “I thought you had better manners than that Kenshin.” 

“Kaoru never mentioned Yasu,” Yahiko stepped in quickly, remembering the conversation he had eavesdropped on that he suspected Kenshin was referring to.  _But if it was that talk than why would he think it was Yasu?_   Yahiko wondered, _she specifically said that she was in love with Kenshin._

“Well not by name,” Kenshin responded hedging.  “But it was clear from the way she spoke about the distance between them.  And who else could it be, but the one who writes her every week despite the fact that they have not seen each other in 5 years?”

“You didn’t stick around for the whole conversation did you Kenshin?” Yahiko asked pointedly.  Kenshin guilty shook his head no and Yahiko sighed.  “You should have because right after that, Kaoru said that you were the one she was in love with.  You were the one she was talking about and what she was really talking about was the way you hold yourself apart from us you dope.”  _I could learn a lot from Kenshin about swords but someone needs to teach him how to properly eavesdrop on a conversation._   Yahiko thought sadly.  _Maybe Sanosuke could give him a few pointers, he’s probably has loads more practice than I’ve got._

“She what?” Kenshin gasped. He would be no more shocked if Sanosuke had confessed that he was really a woman in disguise.

“Trust, me I heard the whole thing,” Yahiko assured him.

“But the letters, why would he write if…” Kenshin trailed off.

“Have you ever read those letters Kenshin?” Yahiko asked.  “Because I have, Kaoru gives them to me to practice my reading skills and trust me, those aren’t the kind of letters that a guy writes to a girl he likes.  They are fun to read tho’ but definitely not love letters.”

“But, but,” Kenshin protested, still not sure if he could believe in what they were saying but desperately wanting to.

Sanosuke sighed as he rubbed his forehead as if in pain.  “Kenshin have you ever just asked Kaoru how she feels?  I know it’s a radical idea but you should try it sometime.  I did when I wasn’t sure about all those letters myself, Kaoru told me flat out that they were just old friends and she was the closest thing he had left to family but that was it, nothing romantic, and then she mentioned something about shutting up and to stop stealing all her food or something like that.  I kinda of tuned out at that point.”

“I got pretty much the same thing when I asked her,” Yahiko shrugged.  “Meanwhile when it comes to you she stays up all night until you come home safe, she freaks out at the thought of you leaving or putting yourself in danger, and totally flips out every time Megumi flirts with you, to the point where you can almost see the smoke coming out of her ears.  Not to mention how she goes out of her way to do things for you, like keeping flowers in your room ‘to make it look nice’, keeping your clothes looking like new, and borrowing books for you to read that she thinks you might like.  How could you think that she wasn’t in love with you?” Yahiko demanded in astonishment.

“Umm…” Kenshin started, feeling completely taken aback.  “You really think that?”

Sanosuke and Yahiko exchanged a look.  “Man he’s thick,” they moaned together.

“Kenshin, just do us a favor and put us out of our misery, “ Sanosuke pleaded.  “Just go back and tell the Missy how you feel and end all this drama.”

“You’re right,” Kenshin agreed, coming to a decision as he stood up.  “I should do that.”

Sanosuke and Yahiko watched Kenshin leave in surprise.  “I thought that was going to be a lot harder than that,” Sanosuke remarked, stunned by Kenshin’s quick agreement.  “Especially with how long this has been going on, he didn’t throw a fuss over what to say or anything.”

Yahiko nodded his head in agreement before he glanced at Sanosuke in worry, “you think he knows what he’s doing?”

Sanosuke glanced back at Yahiko, “we better make sure, just in case.”

***

Kaoru wasn’t sure if she wanted to cry or commit mass murder.  After her fight with Kenshin she was even more restless than before.  She stood at the bow, wishing that there was somewhere she could go to be completely alone, but she was confined to bounds of the ship filled with clusters of sleeping men and sailors on night watch who had undoubtedly seen the whole affair between her and Kenshin. 

“Kaoru-dono?”

Kaoru didn’t even turn to know who addressed her as there was only one person who would call her that, she continued to look out into the sea, “What do you want Kenshin?” she demanded harshly.

“This one wanted to apologize for what was said before and to explain,” Kenshin answered gently, his voice filled with remorse and concern.

“I don’t care to hear what you have to say at the moment.  Just go away,” Kaoru retorted in anger, wishing that he would just leave.

“You should,” Kenshin answered, “because there has been too much left unsaid between us, and I can’t take it anymore.”

“I personally couldn’t care less what you have to say,” Kaoru repeated as she spun to face Kenshin, her emotions finally settling on rage.  Kenshin met her fury with complete calm. 

“Do you remember when Jin-e kidnapped you and forced me to fight him?”

“Of course I do,” Kaoru retorted, slightly hesitant at Kenshin’s words.  The only time she had even heard Kenshin say ‘me’ or ‘my’ was when he had fought Jin-e and had almost completely reverted to the hitokiri that he had been.  She quickly searched his face but he still looked like the same rurouni that she had asked to stay with her all those months before.  No sign of the hitokiri she had seen once before.

“For just a moment I thought that you _had_ died and if you had…” Kenshin trailed off, his eyes flitting away from her face for a moment before they returned in earnest.  “I have watched people that I care about die in front of me, giving their own lives to protect me and I never want to see that again.  That is why I try to protect you Kaoru-dono, it’s because you are important to me.  I know that I told you once that we were nothing more than friends but that wasn’t the whole truth.  The whole truth is that I love you and I have for a long time.”

Kaoru felt as though her body had gone completely numb, a little voice in the back of her head told her to close her open mouth and that she must look like a complete idiot at the moment but she was too stunned to listen.  “You what?” she squeaked.

“I love you,” Kenshin repeated simply as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, “and if you allow, then I would like to court your favor, officially.”

It took several seconds before the initial shock wore off and the reaction set in, Kaoru’s eyes dropped to the deck and she felt a blush spread across her checks, “I’d like that a lot Kenshin,” she practically whispered, “ a whole lot,” her eyes flickered up to see Kenshin’s look of absolute joy.

They might have said or done more, but they were interpreted by a snort from behind a stack of barrels on deck.  “It’s about damn time!”


	5. Sacrifice

**Chapter 4**

**Sacrifice**

“I know you’re not sleeping,” Kenshin told Yahiko and Sanosuke sternly.  He got no response other than Yahiko’s fake snore.  He sat down a little ways apart from them, propping his sword against his left shoulder out of habit.  “This one should throw you both overboard since you obviously can’t keep your nose out of other’s business.”  Still no response and Kenshin decided to give up since they were both going to play the sleeping card.  Kenshin settled in, leaning his head back against the railings of the ship while making the mental note to take up the argument with them in the morning.  He filed away a few choice phases to use when they wouldn’t be pretending to ignore him as he closed his eyes.  He was just about to drift off when a large drop of rain hit his head bringing him to full wakefulness and he glanced up at the dark sky in alarm.

“Damn, looks like we’re in for a storm,” Sanosuke swore as lightening cracked across the sky followed shortly by the rumble of thunder.

“How did it come up so quick?” Yahiko asked in surprise.

“Welcome to life on the sea,” Sanosuke answered in a grumble, “and I was hoping the sailors were joking when they said we were in for a bad night tonight.”

“Speaking of bad nights…” Kenshin looked at the two of them meaningfully and they both stared back with overly innocent expressions.  “Stay out of it or this one will find out how well you both can swim.”

“Kenshin, what are you talking about?” they both asked with mock innocent. 

Kenshin narrowed his eyes at them, “you know what I mean, this one doesn’t need your ‘help’ with Kaoru-dono, that I don’t.”

Sanosuke and Yahiko just glanced at each other, fighting the urge to laugh, “umm you sure about that Kenshin?”  Yahiko asked in barely concealed mirth, “because if it wasn’t for us you would never have gone back to talk to Kaoru in the first place.”

“Kid has a point,” Sanosuke added. 

“Now listen you two,” Kenshin started before the sprinkle of raindrops suddenly turned into a shower, momentarily sparing Sanosuke and Yahiko from the blunt of Kenshin’s wrath.  They joined the scramble of men in fighting over the little shelter offered on the deck.

“Now this sucks,” Sanosuke grumbled as the three were forced to hold their blankets over their heads in an effort to keep off the worst of the rain. 

“Agreed,” Yahiko grumbled as large waves rocked the ship, tossing it to and fore.

They sat huddled together as waves started to crash over the deck and the ship rocked violently.  “Everyone but crew down below!” a ship-hand announced as they opened the doors to below deck, the men didn’t need to be told twice and there was a mad dash to escape from the storm.  The men crowded into the tiny room used by the crew for meal times.  Through the crowd, Kenshin got the briefest glimpse of Kaoru as she glanced out of the kitchen area where she had her bed to see the crowd of men gathering.

“At least we’re out of the rain now,” Kenshin commented as he was temporarily crushed against the wall by the mass of bodies.  _But I think some of these men should be sent back out, at least then it might wash the stink off of them,_ Kenshin thought as he wrinkled up his nose at the pungent smell that was filling the air.

“MWH GAHYS,” Yahiko tried to scream from where he had been squished into a corner.  Sanosuke grabbed the boy’s collar and pulled him out from behind the man who had been crushing him.  “Gah, can’t these guys afford a decent bath?” Yahiko gagged on the foal stench in the air that reminded Kenshin of a pack of wet dogs.  By now the men had assembled into some semblance of order and allowed enough room for the men to at least stand up.

“Looks like we’re not going to get any sleep down here either,” Sanosuke said as the ship continued to rock violently back and forth.  _Not that any of us can even sit down in here, there’s barely enough room to stand._   They all waited in the semi-lit room for the storm to abate, time slipping by as they waited.

“You filthy whore!” a man screamed and there was a sudden disturbance on the side of the room where there was the opening into the kitchen area.  Sanosuke craned his neck to look over the crowd and saw Kaoru with her hair pulled back into a braid for sleeping, a robe pulled around her, her tanto in one hand and murder in her eyes. 

“The next ass to get fresh with me is going to be ripped open from head to toe.  Any questions?” Kaoru demanded in a loud voice that instantly silenced the room.

“You think that little dagger scares me?” the man who had obviously caused the commotion growled as he regained his footing from where Kaoru had thrown him back into the crowd after he tried to force his way into the kitchen.  He lunged at Kaoru and Sanosuke felt Kenshin leave his side and force his way through the crush of men with an ease that obviously showed he had been in similar situations before.

Kaoru on the other hand needed no aid, this time as the man lunged at her, she stepped to the side, blocking his attack with one hand as she sliced with her tanto, leaving a gash down the side of the man’s face.  The man screamed in pain, holding his bloody face with one hand, while Kaoru faced him again, dagger at the ready.  “Next time it’s your nose,” she told him with cold certainty.

“You little bitch,” the man swore.

Suddenly Kenshin appeared, having been able to force his way across the room and stepped between them, “this one will take more than your nose if you don’t leave her alone,” Kenshin growled, _starting first with offending appendages,_ his hand was on his sword even though he knew that he couldn’t draw it in such a crowded situation.  The man obviously came to the same conclusion as he grinned crookedly at Kenshin. 

As if someone had read Kenshin’s thoughts, the attacker’s face went strangely blank and he collapsed to the ground, clenching his crotch with a groan of pain.  Kenshin looked at Yahiko in surprise, who was holding his shinai in his hand.  Yahiko carefully wiped the hilt on his hakama while Sanosuke laughed broadly. 

“You hit the guy from behind?  Let me guess the Missy taught you that one?”  Sanosuke asked in amusement.

“Actually I just sort of made it up, seemed appropriate tho’,” Yahiko answered with a shrug.  “Besides you guys leave me out of everything, if I want to have any fun I kind of have to take matters into my own hands.”

“You okay Missy?” Sanosuke asked as Kaoru stepped around Kenshin to survey Yahiko’s handiwork. 

“Of course I am,” Kaoru answered flippantly.  She glanced down at the man who was breathing in shallow gasps, “nice job Yahiko.”

Yahiko grinned broadly.  “Sorry Kaoru, I know he was yours but when Kenshin stepped in I decided that he must be free game at that point.”

Kaoru shrugged, “yeah Kenshin does have a way of spoiling a girl’s fun,” she sighed tragically as she watched Kenshin from the corner of her eye with an amused smile.

Kenshin wrinkled up his face at them, “so next time I should just let the perverts attack you Kaoru-dono?”

“Kenshin, perverts are my specialty,” Kaoru answered with wide eyes.  “I make a habit of beating up everyone I meet.”

“So why’s Sanosuke still standing?” Yahiko asked before Sanosuke hit the boy over the head.

“Don’t give her any ideas idiot,” Sanosuke warned the boy.

“What the hell is going on in here!” a loud voice demanded and their batter was bought to a hold as the first mate glared at the room.

“They started it,” someone quickly accused pointing a finger at Kenshin and Sanosuke.

“I don’t care who started it!” the first mate snapped.  “You were hired to fight pirates, not each other.  Speaking of pirates, the Kairyu’s ship has been spotted heading towards us.  All of you on deck now!”

“He didn’t mean you Kaoru-dono,” Kenshin hissed as the scramble of men followed the first mate onto the deck, eager for the bounty they would collect on the pirates.  When Kenshin and the others started forward, Kaoru made to follow them before Kenshin put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

“Pirates, perves, what’s the difference?” Kaoru demanded.  “And if you think I’m just going to sit down here while you guys are off fighting then you’re crazy.  Besides if you’re letting Yahiko go then why not me?”

“Who said we were going to let the kid fight?” Sanosuke demanded in surprise as though the thought had never occurred to him.  “I thought we were going to leave him with you down below, that was what Kenshin and I agreed to anyways.”

“Hey I’m an equal member of Team Kenshin too you big free loader!”  Yahiko yelled in anger.

“In your dreams kid,” Sanosuke rolled his eyes, Yahiko screwed up his face in disgust.  He slammed his shinai down on Sanosuke’s foot causing Sanosuke to howl in pain and dance on his other leg for a moment.  Before Kenshin could stop the boy, Yahiko dashed for the door and disappeared up the stairs leading to the deck.

“Yahiko, wait up,” Kaoru yelled as she started forward too before Kenshin caught her wrist causing her to spin around to face him.

“Kaoru-dono, no please, stay down here.  This one will bring Yahiko back, just please stay out of this fight.”  Kenshin pleaded gently with her while Sanosuke swore loudly on all the different ways he was going to make Yahiko pay for what he had done.

“Kenshin, wanting to protect me is sweet and all,” Kaoru answered him bluntly.  “But a little outdated for this girl, I don’t let my friends fight alone.”  She twisted her wrist out of his hand and disappeared after Yahiko.

“Kaoru-dono!” Kenshin swore, he muttered a few choice oaths before turning to Sanosuke.  “Sano pull yourself together, first pirates then we deal with Yahiko and Kaoru-dono, agreed?”

“Agreed,” Sanosuke swore with a vicious look that made Kenshin a little worried about Yahiko’s life span if they survived the pirates attack.

***

Once they hit the deck, Sanosuke and Kenshin were met with absolute chaos, the storm had abated some, the waves no longer crashing over the deck and the rain now down to a drizzle that was starting to slack off.  But now the deck was filled with swarthy men in varying degrees of clothes, who were all heavily armed, fighting the sailors and guards alike.  By the time Sanosuke had taken two steps forward towards the fight he realized that Kenshin was no longer at his side.  He wasn’t given much time to think about that before the first wave of men hit him, one man with a long spear and another wielding an oddly shaped ax who lunged at him. 

Sanosuke operated on the instincts that had kept him alive during his years of fighting as he stepped away from their weapons.  He grabbed the spear in his hands and twisted it, forcing the spear man across the deck to crash into the ax man.  Before he could finish the job, he felt a blinding pain in his left shoulder as someone hit him with a blunt object from behind.  Sanosuke collapsed to his knees and lashed out in a mule kick with one leg, feeling the satisfying impact as his leg hit the man’s knee forcing the joint to hyperextend and causing the man to hit the deck in a scream of pain. 

Sanosuke scrambled to his feet as a new group of attackers lunged for him.  In the few moments before the first man reached him, he could see that the pirates had thrown hooks over the sides of the ship’s railings to force the two ships together.  Pirates were pouring over the deck and some swung in from ropes to land amongst the crowds of guards, adding to the general confusion.  _Just another day on the job,_ Sanosuke thought.  He calmly punched the first man right between the eyes knocking him back into the rails where he tripped and went over the side with a yell making a large splash in the sea below.  His quick look a moment before had also showed him that Yahiko was keeping his back to the railings as he cleared his way through the men who tried to attack him.  And Kenshin was now fighting a group of men as he simultaneously was protecting Kaoru who had somehow managed to get hold of a spear during the chaos of the fight.  The two were arguing loudly even over the sound of the storm and battle and Sanosuke had to admire the lung capacity of both of them. 

“Kaoru-dono why don’t you just take Yahiko and get below deck already?!”  Kenshin yelled as he hit two men with his sheathed sword.

“Kenshin, I told you that I’ll be fine!”  Kaoru retorted in anger as she used her spear to knock three men off their feet and Yahiko quickly dashed in and knocked the men out with a well-placed crack of his shinai.  “Yahiko and I won’t slow you down.”

“You’re in too much danger out here,” Kenshin protested.

“Kenshin!” Kaoru yelled as she flipped her spear around and hit a man that had been about to attack Kenshin who was distracted by his argument with Kaoru.  “I think you’re the one in the danger at the moment if you don’t focus!”

Kenshin snarled as he turned back to the fighting and Yahiko snickered from where he now stood at Kenshin’s side.  “Do you really think you can reason with her Kenshin?”  Yahiko asked in amusement before he ducked under an attack by a kama-wielding opponent, catching the man across the shins with his shinai.  “She’s a crazy old tanuki, just be glad she’s beating up someone else for a change.”

“We’re going to have a long talk about this later Kaoru-dono,” Kenshin growled under his breath, “and about how you’ve corrupted Yahiko as well.”

Kaoru flashed a grin at him during a momentary pause in the fighting, “I think we have more to talk about then that Kenshin, like a more detailed discussion of events earlier tonight.”

“Kenshin, pirates!” Yahiko yelled as Kenshin stared at Kaoru with a blank look, momentarily forgetting that they were in a life or death situation.  Yahiko’s yell saved him as he turned his attention back to the fight just as two men swarmed towards him, and Kenshin raised his sheathed weapon to block their attack.  In a flash of lightening, he saw a figure wrapped in a dark cloak board the ship amongst the chaos.  The figure didn’t take place in the actual fight but observed with a kind of cool detachment.  _That must be Shura,_ Kenshin thought grimly as he gritted his teeth, his sheathed sword locked against the blade of his rival.

 _Man I must be outdoing myself,_ Sanosuke thought in amusement as he surveyed the 5 men surrounding him, _now their starting to gang up on me._ “All right, who’s next?” Sanosuke taunted them.  “Unless you’d rather piss in your hakama’s instead, if you’re wearing any that is.”

“Is that vomit on your shoe?” One of the pirates retorted with a quick gesture of his ax to Sanosuke’s shoe.

Sanosuke didn’t even glance down, “yeah, what about it?”

The pirates glanced at each other with raised eyebrows for a moment before they lunged forward.  Sanosuke grabbed the weapon of his first attacker as the man swung his tofa at Sanosuke, Sanosuke swung his fist into the face of another knocking him on his back before he raised his leg and kicked the man across the check who had asked about the vomit.  “Now it’s on your face _,_ ” Sanosuke retorted with grim amusement as he ducked from another pirate’s sword slash.

“All right, if you two won’t get below then will you at least stand behind this one?” Kenshin demanded in a growl.

“Sure, we can cover the rear, no problem,” Kaoru replied happily as she swiped her spear at an opponent knocking him against the railings before she slapped the end across his face with a solid crack that landed him on the deck.  She then retreated until she was two steps behind Kenshin, her back to the bow of the ship, spear held at the ready.

Kenshin was amazed at her cooperation.  He had expected more of an argument since with her behind him, he would now be taking the brunt of the offensive.  _Okay, can’t keep her out of a fight but I can minimize the amount of danger she’s in by placing her in the most guarded portion of the field,_ Kenshin analyzed, he filed that information away for future reference.  In all the time he had spent around Kaoru he knew that this wouldn’t be the last life-and-death situation they would be involved in.

“Yahiko, get your butt over here!” Kaoru yelled.

“Coming tanuki, don’t get your susoyoke in a twist,” Yahiko yelled back as he blocked the attack of an opponent.

“My susoyoke’s is none of your business!” Kaoru screamed in return while Kenshin was occupied by two pirates.  She used her spear to force one back while Kenshin finished off the other and then turn his attention back on the first.

“You’re right, their more Kenshin’s business now aren’t they?” Sanosuke yelled over at them as Yahiko knocked his opponent out and retreated back towards Kenshin and Kaoru.

“Sanosuke Sagara you pervert!  When this is over I’m coming after you next!” Kaoru warned him.

“Now that’s something I’d like to see,” Yahiko muttered to himself.  He had almost reached Kaoru and Kenshin.  Kenshin was having a hard time since he had yet to draw his sword and Kaoru was doing her best to back him up with her spear.  Yahiko made the mental note to ask her to teach him how to use a spear next.  Judging from the way she had been using it so far she knew what she was doing.  Yahiko shuddered slightly as he tried not to think of how many weapons she had been taught to use.  In his moment of distraction he didn’t see the pirate pull out a pistol and aim it at him.

“Yahiko!” Kaoru screamed as she caught sight of the pirate out of the corner of her eye.  She lunged forward before either Yahiko or Kenshin even saw the attack, knocking Yahiko out of the way with one hand as she put herself between Yahiko and the gun right as the pirate pulled the trigger.

***

 “Dee, dee, nad, dee,” a pirate with a large two edged ax hummed as he strolled forward.  One side of him was a man with a fish like face dominated by his hook shaped nose and a long scar down one side of his face wielding a set of steel claws on one hand.  On his other strolled a man with a longbow and a full quiver of arrows.

“Hold up there,” two sailors ordered as they blocked the men’s path.

The pirates didn’t even slow down as they walked forward in unconcern.  The men weren’t even given a chance to defend themselves before the pirates cut them down, one with his head bashed open by the ax, the other with two arrows in his chest and his throat slashed open by the steel claws.

“La, lee, dee, dum,” the man with the ax continued humming as he continued the tune.  The pirates made their way down into the hold where an interesting sight greeted them.  Several men were busy moving crates while a well-dressed middle-aged businessman directed them in panic. 

“Hurry up and hide those crates.” The businessman ordered.  Two sailors hauled a crate passed him, one stumbled as the ship rocked violently by a wave and the businessman flinched when the crate hit the deck.  “Handle that carefully you oafs!” he snapped at the sailors who quickly picked the crate back up.  “I don’t care if they take the rest of the goods so long as you protect those crates!”

“So is that the cargo that makes you so wealthy then?” the ax man asked in amusement as he led the others forward into the cargo hold.  The businessman and the sailors stopped as they looked at them in panic.  Appropriate, since the pirates could clearly see that none of the men were armed.  “I presume that you are Gohei Senbonya,” the ax man continued smoothly.  “Or would your name actually be Yohei?” he mused for a second before he returned his piercing gaze on Senbonya who cringed back.  “Oh well I guess that it doesn’t really matter that much anyways,” he continued in a sneer.

“Please don’t hurt me, I’m unarmed,” Senbonya pleaded as he fell to his knees in fright.

“Don’t worry,” the ax man assured him.  “The truth is that we don’t brother with weaklings like you that aren’t worth the time to kill.  Now if you men there want to live,” he announced as he stared down at the sailors with the crates.  “Then I suggest you take all this fine cargo and place it on the deck of our ship, if you don’t, we’ll cut you down where you stand.”

The sailors gulped and looked at each other for a moment before the decision was silently made and they made their way towards the door, preparing to take the cargo to the pirate’s ship.

***

Kenshin’s ears were buzzing in rage as he knocked his opponent back, causing the man to stumble back into the mast in a daze.  He held his sword up in front of him, one hand on the hilt, his eyes burning as he placed himself in front of Yahiko and Kaoru.  “How is she Yahiko?” Kenshin asked in an undertone that betrayed his fury.

“I’m fine Kenshin, sorry ‘bout this, guess I’m a bit in the way now,” Kaoru gasped, her face white from pain as she struggled to sit up with Yahiko’s help, one hand clenching her shoulder that had been shot.

“There’s no need to apologize,” Kenshin told her in a cold tone that was in no way directed at her, instead he focused the whole of his wrath on the men before him, blaming each and every one of them for hurting Kaoru.  “Just stay by this one’s side, Yahiko watch her.”  Kenshin drew his sakabato for the first time in the fight smashing the tusba right into the face of his next attacker with a crack that echoed across the ship and the man collapsed to the deck, his face a bloody mess.  Kenshin wasn’t given a moment to spare as the next swarm rushed his way.  By now, Kenshin could see that the pirates had disposed of most of the other guards and crew and so more of them were focusing their attention on him and Sanosuke.  Sanosuke had seen the attack on Kaoru and was trying to make his way across the deck to aid Kenshin in protecting her but kept getting delayed by the pirates.

Yahiko just focused his attention on Kaoru.  “You’ll be all right,” Yahiko told her, more to reassure himself than her as he took a look at her left shoulder that was now covered in blood.  He examined the wound closely despite his uneasy stomach as Kaoru panted in pain, her face completely white.  Yahiko wanted nothing more than for Megumi or Doctor Gensei or anyone else to be there to treat the injury and for him to just sit back.  He fought against his panic as the blood continued to gush out of the wound as though it would never stop.  _We shouldn’t even be here,_ Yahiko thought as tears threaten to fall from his eyes.  _Kaoru and I should have been at the dojo, Kenshin and Sanosuke were suppose to be the only ones here._ “Looks like the bullet went straight through,” Yahiko told her as he saw the exit wound on the other side of her shoulder.  _If we had stayed then Kaoru wouldn’t have gotten hurt because of me._

“Yahiko we need to stop the bleeding now,” Kaoru gasped.  “You can roll up my sleeve up over the wound and I can hold it in place until you can find something to tie it with.”

“Okay,” Yahiko nodded, hoping that he didn’t look as terrified as he felt.

“Yahiko, everything’s going to be all right,” Kaoru assured him with a slight smile.  “Just focus all right, you can do this.”

 _Great now I’m being such a baby about this that Kaoru thinks she has to mother me,_ Yahiko thought in disgust, _and she’s the one who’s hurt_.  He took a couple of deep breathes as he rolled her sleeve up, taking the time to steeled his emotions.  He glanced up looking for some rope or something that he could use to tie the makeshift bandage in place as Kaoru grasped the wound.  He saw that now Sanosuke and Kenshin were fighting side by side, each defending the other’s openings from the pirates, moving in complete harmony as they took down the pirates before them, but never moving far from where Kaoru and Yahiko were.  A flash of lightening and Yahiko saw the red headband that Sanosuke always wore and inspiration hit him.

“Sano, I need your headband now!” Yahiko yelled and Sanosuke glanced briefly at the boy, understanding in an instant.  He causally ripped the headband off as he knocked a pirate to the deck while Kenshin covered his weak spot by blocking a sword from striking him.  Sanosuke flipped the headband through the air and Yahiko leaped forward to grab it as the wind tried to whip it away from him. 

Yahiko hit the deck and spun on one heel taking the step and half back to Kaoru’s side, untying the headband as he went before dropping to one knee before wrapping the headband around her shoulder.

“Make it as tight as you can,” Kaoru told him sternly.  She gasped sharply in pain as Yahiko pulled it tight, quickly securing the tourniquet in place.  “Help me up,” she panted.  Yahiko got to his feet, pulling Kaoru up behind him.  Kaoru drew her tanto, once she had gotten her spear earlier in the fight she had resheathed the weapon, thinking that she wouldn’t need it again, _guess I still need it after all_.

Kenshin glanced back at them once, seeing Kaoru on her feet he retreated back a couple of steps, holding his freehand out to keep them back while holding his sword at the ready.  “Stay behind this one, I won’t let them get through,” Kenshin told them.

Yahiko wasn’t going to listen at the moment, his panic was now fading into anger, _I’m the only one who gets to give Kaoru a hard time around here,_ he thought savagely as he glared at the pirates.  _Not you freaks!_   Yahiko stepped forward, his shinai held at the ready.  Kenshin didn’t even glance at him as he watched the pirates in front of him who were holding back, judging the best way to attack the four. 

“Yahiko, step back,” Kenshin ordered.

“Kenshin, Kaoru’s my sensei and I’ll be damned before these bastards lay another finger on her.” Yahiko replied, “and you can wash my mouth out later Kaoru,” he added as an afterthought, knowing full well that Kaoru had probably already made plans to do so, he really hoped that she wouldn’t use the nasty laundry soup again.

“Well then,” Sanosuke cracked his knuckles and surveyed the pirates in front of them making a head count, “looks like it’s three against twelve, that’s six for me, five for Kenshin, one for Yahiko, and one to run for his mommy.”

“Your math’s off Sano,” Kenshin retorted coldly as he glared at the men before him, _they’re all for me._

_***_

 “Anymore?” Shura demanded as crates were being loaded onto their ship. 

“A few more, it’ll be a couple of minutes more before we have all the goods,” the first mate, Akio, the man wielding an ax who had ‘persuaded’ the sailors to load the crates onto their ship, assured her.

“Good,” Shura responded.  Shura surveyed the deck that was filled with the dead and wounded guards and sailors, every pirate that had fallen had been hauled back on to their ship and the wounded were being cared for by their apothecary, Yuu, the best they had for a doctor.  “What’s going on over there?” Shura asked, gesturing over to the prow of the ship where Kenshin and Sanosuke were holding off their opponents with Yahiko one step behind them.

“Nothing to worry about Captain,” Akio assured, “just a couple of the guards that haven’t given up the fight just yet.  Gekki went over to deal with the situation, they won’t get in our way.”

“Oversee the cargo,” Shura ordered, “I’m going to check this out just in case.”

***

Gekki surveyed the scene, calculating the best line of attack as Sanosuke, Yahiko, and Kenshin formed a semi-circle around Kaoru. “Take the boy out, the other’s will try to protect him and that’ll let us take them down,” Gekki ordered in a low undertone.  The men started forward obediently, eight of them moving to distract Kenshin and Sanosuke while two moved forward to assault Yahiko directly, the other two hung back waiting for their chance.  Yahiko danced around his opponents, knocking one to the ground.  He blocked the kama of the second, their blades locked in place.  While Yahiko fought to keep the blade of the kama away from him, the other two men darted forward, both of them grabbed Yahiko before the boy could responded, lifted him easily and tossed him over the rails into the ocean below.

Kaoru saw Yahiko go over the side, “Yahiko!” she screamed as she started towards the rails out of instinct before the two pirates turned to face her with evil looks in their eyes.  Kaoru stopped short, realizing that she was badly hurt, weakened from blood loss, and essentially weaponless except for the tanto in her hand which suddenly seemed like a very poor choice of weapons.

“DOWN!” 

Kaoru didn’t need to be told twice, she dropped to her knees, ducking her head as Sanosuke leapt over her with a flying kick that caught one pirate in the side of his head knocking him straight into the other and they both hit the deck in a crash.

“Kenshin I’m going after Yahiko,” Sanosuke yelled before he leapt easily over the rails and twisted into a dive into the ocean below.

Kaoru scrambled to her feet, trying not to pass out as each movement sent a ripple of pain through her body.  She moved quickly back behind Kenshin who once again held his arm out to keep her behind him as the pirates retreated.  Kenshin panted as he surveyed the pirates who were trying to regroup.  “Kaoru-dono, you all right?”

Kaoru nodded before she realized that Kenshin couldn’t see her, “I’m fine,” she assured him.  “Just worry about yourself okay?  I’ll stay behind you.”

Gekki’s eyes narrowed as he saw the way Kenshin protected Kaoru, he grinned cruelly.  “Attack the woman, she’s his weakness!” he yelled.

Kenshin’s teeth gritted in rage as the men swarmed towards him and he once again was forced into a dizzying series of blocks and attacks, hampered by the fact that he was trying not to move from Kaoru’s side.

“Kenshin stop horsing around,” Kaoru hissed at him, as she used her tanto to stab the pirate in the arm as Kenshin stood, weapons locked, while the other pirates were moving towards them.  “I’ll move with you, you can’t stand in one place and fight all of them.”

Kenshin knew she was right, staying in one place took away his advantage of motion, something that was essential to his fighting style and Kaoru knew it.  Kenshin leapt forward, limiting his movements, praying that Kaoru could keep up with him as he spun through the pirates.  Much to his surprise, Kaoru danced right along with him as he ducked, dodged and fought his way through his attackers who were trying to get at Kaoru who seemed stuck to Kenshin’s back like glue.  The few pirates who got close enough to Kaoru quickly became targets of her tanto.

Shura watched in amusement as Kenshin brought half of the remaining men down before he retreated back towards the prow of the ship, allowing a moment of rest in the battle.  Kaoru looked over one of his shoulder’s, her tanto dripping blood from the night’s work, her face still drawn with pain but the surge of adrenaline now numbing the pain to an afterthought.

“Told you I’d keep up with you,” Kaoru whispered in Kenshin’s ear.

Kenshin’s face twisted in a slight smile of amusement, despite his anger at her injury, “duly noted, those must have been some dance lessons you had.”

Kaoru chuckled slightly in amusement.  “All the rage,” she playfully bantered back, she knew that none of her female friends would ever be able to understand how she could so easily carry on a conversation in a life and death situation such as this.   But Kaoru saw it as a way of dealing with the horror that this might be the end for all of them.  She saw a flicker and she glanced at Kenshin’s blade in alarm, in its reflection she saw a young boy with a fukiya behind her, hanging from the railings of the ship and pointing the pipe at them.  She turned in shock, a slight gasp escaping her lips as she saw the boy lower the short fukiya with a wide grin.

Kenshin hissed in pain and hunched slightly and Kaoru saw a long needle protruding from his shoulder.  _A poisoned dart?_   She thought in alarm and quickly grabbed the needle and removed it cleanly.  “Kenshin?” she asked in worry as she used her good arm to hold Kenshin up.

“I’ll be all right,” Kenshin gasped in reply even as his shoulder burned and his vision started to go hazy, he struggled to hold on to consciousness, knowing that if he fell there was nothing left to protect Kaoru.

“Hold on Gekki,” Shura announced in a low tone, holding an arm out to prevent Gekki from rushing forward with the others to finish Kenshin off.  “The swordsman is mine.”

Kenshin regained his footing and pushed Kaoru back as Shura strolled forward with the ease of one who had been long at sea, seemingly unaffected by the rolling of the ship.

Shura lunged forward, swinging a short staff at Kenshin.  Kenshin raised his sakabato up and the staff hit the blade with a clang.  Kenshin whipped a leg behind Shura and used one hand to knife-hand Shura in the throat, tripping him.  Shura hit the deck and managed to flip over in a surprising show of dexterity into a crouched position.  Kenshin continued his advance when Shura twisted the staff and disassembled it into three even sized intervals attached by a thick rope.  Kenshin’s eyes opened slightly in surprise as Shura flicked the sansetsukon at his legs, attempting to strike at his knees and disable him.  Kenshin just leapt high in the air, one hand on Shura’s back as he flipped over and landed behind Shura. 

He and Shura both spun, Shura’s weapon swung at Kenshin while Kenshin brought his sword down towards Shura’s shoulder.  Shura’s sansetsukon wrapped around Kenshin’s blade and with a jerk Kenshin’s blade was twisted away and to the side.  Kenshin tightened his grip with one hand, refusing to let go of his weapon as he balled up his other hand into a fist and punched at Shura.  Shura dodged the attack, disengaged their weapons, flicking the staff once again at Kenshin.

 _He’s good,_ Kenshin thought as he ducked and dodged, knowing in his condition getting hit was the last thing he needed.

Shura’s teeth ground together in frustration, mixed with concentration, _how is he doing this?_   Shura wondered in frustration as each attack failed and Kenshin remained on his feet, easily dancing around every blow.  _Not one attack has made it through his defenses and I can’t predict his movements at all._

Shura leapt forward with a yell as Kenshin stumbled, weapon flying through the air at Kenshin.  In the moments before it hit, Kenshin twisted around, swinging his sakabato with a twist and sliced through the rope of the sansetsukon causing one section to break apart and go rolling across the deck.  Shura hit the deck with shock, pausing the attack, _I lost?_

Kenshin glared at Shura, his weapon held down at his side before his fierce gaze slipped away and he hit the deck on his knees in pain.  Kaoru dashed to his side, “Kenshin are you all right?” she begged in fear.

The young boy from before who had shot Kenshin came up to Shura’s side and looked up with adoration, holding his fukiya in pride, a wide smile on his face.  Shura glanced between the boy and Kenshin in surprise.  “You mean he was poisoned the whole time?” Shura gasped in shock, _and he still managed to beat me?_

The boom of a cannon recalled Shura to the situation, glancing up, Shura saw another ship off in the distance.  The cannonball landed harmlessly in the ocean, but more were firing.  “Are the goods loaded?” Shura demanded.

“Tucked away nice and safe,” Akio yelled back in reply.  “Looks like the navy’s come to join the party.”

“That’s enough for tonight, get the wounded and get back on the ship.  We leave now!” Shura ordered with authority, leading the rest back to their ship, with just one backwards glance at Kenshin before leaping over the rails and landed on the deck of their own ship with ease.  _That swordsman…_

“Cut the ropes and get us out of here now!” Shura ordered striding towards the helm.  The sailors started to cut the ropes attaching the two ships.  Shura heard a woman scream, and glanced up to see Gekki leap onboard with Kaoru over his shoulder, her hands bound.  He threw Kaoru down roughly on the deck and Kaoru nearly passed out from the pain.

“Gekki, what’s this?” Shura demanded harshly.

“I caught the guy off guard and took her as a souvenir, fine isn’t she?” Gekki sneered crudely, he reached down one hand to stroke her face and Kaoru bit him.  Gekki yelled in pain and backhanded Kaoru with a blow that left her stunned.

Shura’s face wrinkled in disgust, “Gekki,” but Shura never got a chance to finish the reprimand as a figure jumped over the rails of the other ship and onto theirs just as the two vessels detached and the pirate ship set sail away from the scene.  Shura looked up in alarm at Kenshin who was using his sheathed sword to keep himself up in a crouch, obviously on his last legs before the poison took full effect.  The pirates immediately turned on Kenshin, their weapons held at the ready if Kenshin tried to attack.  Kenshin paid them no attention, his full attention focused on Shura instead.

“Shura… I’m… the one you want… not her.  Let her go… and take me… as your prisoner… instead,” Kenshin offered, struggling to get the words out as the world swam in front of him.

Shura’s brows furrowed in puzzlement, with one hand holding back the men from attacking.  Four quick steps forward, and Kenshin and Shura stood face to face once again.  “What’s your name?” Shura counted.

“Kenshin… Himura.”

Shura smiled coldly at Kenshin and reached a hand forward and grabbed Kenshin’s weapon away, causing Kenshin to almost topple over.  “I accept your proposal.  You just sold your soul to the devil Kenshin Himura,” Shura assured him coldly, as if by cue, lightening rippled across the sky in response. 

“This has to be a joke,” Gekki snarled.

Shura looked at Gekki harshly as Kenshin collapsed, finally giving into the effects of the poison.  “We are the proud heroes of our village, we don’t harm women and children, you forget your place Gekki.”  Shura turned to the other men, “put the woman in life boat and let her free, the navy will pick her up.  As to the swordsman, see to his wounds, I don’t want him dead.  Yet…”


	6. The Calm After the Storm

**Chapter 5**

**The Calm After the Storm**

Sanosuke carefully made his way down the narrow stairs of ship that swayed gently under his feet.  He blinked several times as his eyes got used to the dim light of the interior before he made his way down the narrow hallway into the little room where Kaoru was laid out on a narrow bunk, sleeping, and Yahiko was sitting on the floor, his knees tucked up to his chin and his head down.  Sanosuke squeezed his bulk into the little room, sitting down next to Yahiko. 

“Here kid, it’s the best I was able to scrounge up,” Sanosuke offered a bowl of food to Yahiko who ignored it.  “You hear me?  I said take it,” Sanosuke repeated, a little annoyed after the effort he had gone through to get them both food.

Yahiko took the bowl, barely raising his head as he slowly ate the contents without comment before setting the bowl down on the floor beside him and resting his head back on his knees.  Sanosuke looked at the boy sadly.  “Yahiko, I’m sure Kenshin’s all right.  Once Kaoru wakes up she can tell us what happened out there and then we’ll get Kenshin back.”  Sanosuke assured him.  He didn’t need words to see that the boy was blaming himself for the events of the night before.

“Assuming he’s still alive,” Yahiko whispered in reply.  _And why would they leave him alive?_

“Assuming,” Sanosuke responded casually.  His tone sparked a reaction from Yahiko whose head shot up as he glared angrily at Sanosuke.

“How can you be taking this so calmly!” he demanded in a hush whisper, conscious of the fact that Kaoru was still sleeping.  “How can you possibly be so callous?”

“After effect I guess,” Sanosuke shrugged as he sipped on some water.  “I just got used to it, most of my siblings didn’t make it to five, and then with the Sekihoutai I watched a lot of my friends get killed.”  Sanosuke turned slightly so that he could look Yahiko straight in the eye with an earnest expression.  “But if Kenshin _is_ dead then I plan on making every last one of those damn pirates pay for it.”  He told him firmly in a deep tone.

“That’s assuming I don’t get them first,” Yahiko agreed in satisfaction, realizing that Sanosuke was as deeply affect by the present situation as he was, just displaying his emotions in a different way.  Unlike Yahiko, Sanosuke didn’t seem to be blaming himself for the events of the night before.  He seemed to be accepting them with a kind of cool detachment that he faced his life with.  If Yahiko could hear his thoughts however, he would have realized that his own guilt over his part in the events of the previous night, paled in comparison to the guilt Sanosuke felt over one of his friends being put into harm’s way and he was unable to help him.

_That guy always try’s take on the weight of the world,_ Sanosuke thought in disgust, _And I wasn’t there to help him and Kaoru when they needed it the most.  If I had been able to keep Yahiko from going overboard then I could have stopped the whole thing before it happened.  They couldn’t have taken both of us._

A flicker of motion made them both turn their attention back to the sleeping girl.  Kaoru was just beginning to stir and Yahiko scrambled to his knees as Kaoru’s eyelids fluttered open and the first thing she saw was Yahiko and Sanosuke’s worried faces looming over her.

“UGGHH!” Kaoru screamed in shock as she, out of reflex, swatted with her hand, catching Sanosuke across the jaw and knocking his head into Yahiko’s with a sharp crack that left both of them moaning in pain.  Kaoru meanwhile followed her shout of surprise with a scream of pain as she flinched back from the both of them and jerked her injured shoulder when she bolted upright.  She grabbed the bandage, panting hard as Yahiko and Sanosuke tried to recover from her attack.

“Are you two trying to give me a heart attack!” Kaoru screamed at them once the pain faded from a sharp sting to a dull ache.  “Why would you think that your ugly faces are the first thing that a girl wants to see when she wakes up?”

“Why do we put up with her?” Sanosuke moaned as he held his head.

“Because we’re idiots,” Yahiko answered.

“How does Kenshin deal with this day after day?” Sanosuke groaned in puzzlement.

Yahiko shrugged, “dunno.  Maybe he’s impervious to pain, some kind of special training of mind over matter.”

“Got to have him teach me that trick,” Sanosuke mumbled.  “And how to read dice,” he added as an afterthought.  _And not necessarily in that order…_

“Kenshin,” Kaoru gasped as she remembered the events of the night before and Kenshin’s fate.  She looked at the both of them with worried faces.  “How long was I out?  What happened?  Did you get Kenshin back?  Why aren’t you answering me?”  She demanded in a rush, not even taking the time to breathe between outbursts.

Yahiko and Sanosuke gave each other a long look before Sanosuke answered her.  “It’s about dawn at the moment.  As to what happened, I got Yahiko out of the water.  The pirates retreated when a navy ship showed up and started firing on them.  You were fetched out of a lifeboat from the pirate’s ship, completely unconscious too.  The navy lent us some help in treating the wounded, including yourself.  By the way the doc said to take it easy since you lost a lot of blood but that he didn’t think there would be any permanent damage.  You need to wear a sling though, we’ll have to rig something up later for you so that you don’t jerk that arm around so much.”

“As to the other matters,” Sanosuke continued.  “Right now the captain is taking the ship to Tateyama so that the wounded can be treated by the doctors there and the attack can be reported to the authorities.  As to what happened to Kenshin, we were hoping that you could tell us.  The only thing we were able to make out of the remaining crew was that Kenshin hopped on to the pirate’s ship after they took you onboard.  So it’s your turn Missy, what happened after that?”

Kaoru bit her lip to keep it from trembling before she answered.  “Kenshin made a deal with the leader Shura that he would be their prisoner if they set me free.  So they did, and the last I saw was Kenshin passed out from the poison dart they hit him with.  They were tying him up before they threw me into the boat and I passed out.”

“Well that’s a good sign,” Sanosuke sighed in relief and Yahiko looked at him as though he had completely lost his mind.

“What do you mean that’s a good sign?  Kenshin’s all tied up by a bunch of bloodthirsty pirates.  How can that possibly be a good thing?” Yahiko demanded incredulously.

“Because if they bothered to tie him up that means they aren’t planning on killing him soon or else they would have already have done it,” Sanosuke pointed out.  “And the longer that Kenshin is alive the more time he has to think of a plan of escape and the more time that we have to find him.”

“So do you think that we can take one of the life boats and go after them?” Yahiko asked in excitement, not stopping to think.

“And just where do you suggest we go?” Sanosuke asked with raised eyebrows.  “We have no idea where the pirates are headed or where their base is.  No, I think the best plan is for us to just travel with the rest of the crew to Tateyama and regroup there.  Kaoru’s in no condition to start a war at the moment anyways.”

“What do you mean I’m in no condition?” Kaoru demanded in anger, sitting up a little straighter and then wincing as that sent shots of pain through her arm.

“As I said you’re in no condition,” Sanosuke continued giving a Kaoru a look that told her to stop moving and aggravating her injury.  “And we need to figure out where the pirates’ base is before we can strike.  From what I overheard they think the pirates have their base somewhere close to here.  That means they must sell the goods and restock with supplies at one of the small ports like Minamiboso and Tateyama.  If we hang around long enough we should stumble over something that will lead us back to them.”

“That actually sounds like a well thought out plan,” Yahiko stated, slightly impressed.

“Well of course it is,” Sanosuke bragged. 

“Out of curiosity, who came up with the plan?” Kaoru asked, just as surprised as Yahiko.  Sanosuke glared at them two of them in disgust. 

“Everyone’s a critic,” he grumbled.

***

The morning sun slowly peeped over the horizon turning the world brilliant shades of gold.  Shura sat on a barrel holding Kenshin’s sword.  One glance showed that Kenshin was still tied up, his back to the mast and his head down, sleeping off the effects of the poison.   Shura sighed, removing the hood and shaking out short brown locks that were blown slightly by the morning breeze.  “How’s he?” Shura asked an old man with a jerk towards Kenshin.

“He’ll live,” Yuu, the apothecary, the best they had for a doctor, answered, holding his cane tightly for support.  “He should be awake soon Lady Shura.”

Shura smiled slightly, the effect of the reaction turned her normally stern features almost radiant before the smile faded and her face became serious once again.  “Good work,” Shura acknowledged.  “And the other’s, how are they?”

“Several were wounded, but fortunately it looks like no fatalities this time,” Yuu responded.  “Everyone will make it with time and rest.”

“Well we should have time for both after this haul,” Shura responded.  Yuu nodded before he hobbled off to see to the pirates who had been injured the night before.   Shura turned back to the weapon, drawing the sword slightly out of the sheath to observe the blade, remembering it from the night before.  But visibility had been poor between the dark and the rain and she wanted to see for herself now, the blade that could have taken her life.  When the first part of the sword was removed Shura felt as though she had been hit by a ton of bricks, _the blade is on the wrong side!_   She swallowed hard as she pulled sword completely out of the sheath to stare in amazement. 

“What the hell kind of katana is that?” Akio demanded, catching sight of the blade from where he had been directing the crew as they sailed back home.

“I-I’m not sure.”  Shura responded, her voice trembling slightly.  “I’ve never seen anything like it before, have you?”

“Not me,” Akio snorted.  “Looks like a wimpy kind of sword. With the bade on the wrong side how are you suppose to kill someone with that stupid thing?”

“Guess that guy’s really a whuss underneath it all,” the second mate, Gekki, laughed.  “I thought he’d be made of stronger stuff than that if he managed to beat Shura.”

“A fact that he will soon pay for,” Shura snapped in irritation, resheathing the blade.  It was one thing for her to remember her defeat, it was another to hear a member of her crew speak so causally about the affair.  “Back to work, this ship won’t sail itself,” she ordered and the men turned back to their duties.  She went back to turning the weapon over in her hands as she stared at Kenshin, thinking back over the events of the night before. 

_He’s not a coward,_ she thought critically.  _If he was then he wouldn’t have fought so hard to protect that girl, nor would he offer himself in her place. And this blade is of a fine make, even if it is strangely designed.  It was made for a purpose, not on a whim._ She thought back to what Akio had said about the blade being worthless in killing someone.  _That must be why he carries it,_ Shura decided.  _Because if he had wanted to kill me last night he could have, strange sword or no._

Shura glanced up as she saw Kenshin start to stir.  He opened his eyes and blinked several times before his eyes narrowed slightly and Shura watched as he surveyed the scene.  She saw the way his eyes calculated everything he saw and his hands twisted slightly against his bounds.  She could almost hear his thoughts as he assessed the situation, trying to come up with a plan for escape.  When his eyes finally reached her, they opened in complete surprise and his mouth dropped open slightly.  Shura just lounged back on her barrel as though it was a throne, a slight smirk on her face.

Kenshin took her in head to toe, obviously taken aback to see a woman on board.  Shura was dressed in a man’s clothes, with a narrow set of hakama’s and a simple red colored hadajuban.  A white cloth was tied over her head and small gold hooped earrings hung from both ears.  While he stared at her she observed him calmly with her dark eyes.  “What do you think of my ship Himura?” Shura gestured grandly to her surroundings.

“Your ship?” Kenshin gasped as it clicked who this woman must be.  “Then you must be the leader Shura?”

Shura nodded as she hopped to her feet and walked forward to stand over him.  “Surprised?” she mocked.

Kenshin didn’t answer, he just looked blankly in front of himself, “how I keep finding these women who want to kill this one?”  Kenshin muttered to himself.  _First Kaoru-dono tries to kill me before I even had a chance to tell her my name, and then there was Megumi-san who got us involved with the Oniwanbanshu whose Okashira still wants my head, and now I just gave my life up to the leader of an infamous group of ruthless pirates.  Who by the way, happens to be another woman.  Why does this only happen to me?  What happened to the good old days where women weren’t trying to kill me every five minutes?_

“What did you say?” Shura asked in astonishment.

Kenshin glanced up at her, “this one asked how I keep finding woman who try to get this one killed, that I did.”

Shura’s face twisted in anger, she kneeled down and grabbed a ward of Kenshin’s kimono.  “Don’t be flippant with me!  Talk straight why don’t you?”

“But I am,” Kenshin protested.  “This one means no offensive, but this is the why I speak, that it is.”  _At least aloud._

Shura shoved him back in disgust.  “Fine, have it your way then.” 

“Captain, the bay’s in sight,” a sailor shouted to her and Shura put Kenshin out her thoughts for the moment as she stepped forward and started barking out orders to the men as they guided the ship into port.  Once they safely docked, she directed the men into unloading the cargo stolen from Senbonya the night before.  The men began to carry it up into one of the small huts used to store goods.  The people of the village ran down to the docks and Kenshin observed many woman and children happily join the pirates in carrying the crates off. 

_What the hell is going on here?_   Kenshin thought in shock.  _These are ruthless pirates yes, but here they seem to be treated as famed hero’s or soldiers.  These people are truly happy to see them and the goods they are carrying._   At first Kenshin was sure that these people, whose clothing was threadbare and all of them bearing the same thin look that stated that they clearly were used to little food, must not know the extent of the pirates’ crimes.  But as the conversation swirled around him and he heard the pirates speak freely about the events of the night before, about the attack on Senbonya’s goods and then escaped from the navy’s ship.  He was even more shocked when some of the pirates greeted the villagers, calling them father or uncle.  _Okay, so these people know that they are pirates, their own children have become pirates, and they just don’t care?_   Kenshin wondered.  _Things must be truly bad here if these people are willing to turn to piracy to survive._

A few of the villagers looked at Kenshin curiously but none said a word about it.  Kenshin figured that those who were not pirates kept their noses out of the affairs of the Kairyu.  Once the goods were unloaded and the wounded were carried off, the pirates finally turned their attention back to Kenshin by hauling him to his feet and marching him down to the sandy beach.  They forced Kenshin to his knees while what seemed to be the elite of the group sat down in a small circle on the beach and passed around a jug of saki.  Shura stood nearby observing the group as the men talked.

“We’ve looted just about every one of Senbonya’s ships,” Akio remarked.  “What do you think our next target should be?”

Gekki’s face twisted ruthlessly, “let’s go raid Oshima island tonight.”

“Oshima eh?” Akio rubbed his chin as he considered the idea.  “Well that’s a pretty nice island.”

“I’ve heard there’s lots of great looking women there,” Gekki added with cruel smirk.

_He’s the kind of man who deserves to have his manhood removed,_ Kenshin thought ruthlessly, remembering him as the same one who had tried to abduct Kaoru the night before.  _Then beaten to a bloody pulp, and then maybe hung from his ankles for a couple of days, or at least until his nose started bleeding._

“That’s sounds good to me,” another man chirped up with a laugh from his comrades.

_Another one to add to the list,_ Kenshin observed.  _That is of course assuming that I live through the day…_

“Since when did the Kairyu become as low as petty thieves!” Shura broke in with an angry snap.  She strolled into the circle and glared at each and every single one of the men.  “Don’t you remember our code Gekki?” Shura turned her attention on to the fish-like man.  “Punish the unjust, never steal from the weak.  Those were the rules my father established for the Kairyu.  Senbonya was a man who made his fortune through questionable deals and it’s because of his ships that we have plenty of supplies for a while.  So use this time to train your skills and prepare yourselves for the next battle.”  She brought her sansetsukon down hard on the sandy beach as a finale to her speech.

Kenshin had to start doing some mental rethinking after he heard the code the pirates lived by, _so there is honor even among thieves,_ he thought.  _Or among some of them at least,_ he noted with narrowed eyes as most of the men gave Shura polite looks that hide their disgust.  Kenshin knew those looks well.  He had even mastered it when dealing with men during the revolution who technically outranked him but whom he couldn’t stand personality.  The only ones who seemed moved by Shura’s words were the young boy from before who Kenshin had yet to hear speak and the old man the other’s called Yuu.  The old man smiled proudly and the boy clapped with enthusiasm until he realized he was the only one.  He looked around in surprise and then put his hands in his lap and lowered his head.

_Shura may be the leader, but she does not truly lead the Kairyu,_ Kenshin analyzed.  _The other’s will betray her once they have the chance.  She may have honor, but they do not._

Akio smiled slightly as he decided to break the long silence.  “Shura, all of us here are in the mood for some blood, why don’t you bring that guy over here and let us have some fun?”

Gekki leapt to his feet before Shura could responded and hauled Kenshin up, pushing him into the circle. 

“Does skewing him a couple of dozen times sound all right to everyone?” Akio asked the group.  “We’d like to have a little fun before we run off to train.”

“Akio I can go first can’t I?” Gekki asked, eyeing Kenshin evilly.  Kenshin looked back at him with wide eyes.

_So a guy who looks like a fish is going to be the one who kills me?_   Kenshin wondered.  _Can’t say I ever saw that one coming.  Could he at least put some hakama’s on?  I’d like to have at least a little bit of dignity._

“Yeah go ahead and do what you want,” Akio replied in a bored sounding voice.

Gekki drew his sword from the sheath strapped across his back and held the blade up towards Kenshin.  “Which part should I start with?” he asked him.  “Your leg or your arm?”

_If you’re giving me a choice I’d prefer if you started with my hair,_ Kenshin thought.  _I like it long in the back, we can skip the mutilation if you don’t mind._

“I wonder how far I can get your blood to splatter?” Gekki mused as he drew his sword back, preparing to strike Kenshin.

Shura moved to intercept him.  She shoved Kenshin to the side before whipping her sansetsukon across Gekki’s wrist with a sharp crack, sending the sword flying away.  She then jabbed the end of the sansetsukon up into Gekki’s throat.

“Didn’t I already punish you once before for attempting to harm a woman?” Shura hissed at him, her eyes blazing.  She relaxed her grip allowing Gekki to lower his head while she turned casually away from him.  Kenshin immediately wanted to tell her not to turn her back on an enemy like that but Shura was already ahead of him.  She jabbed her sansetsukon hard into Gekki’s diaphragm, forcing him to collapse to his knees as he struggled to recover.  “Everybody listen up!” Shura announced in a ringing voice that was heard up and down the beach.  “I’ll be the one to take care of him, all of you can run along home now.”

Nobody moved from their spot.  All of them just stared at Shura as though she had lost her mind, some of them seemed openly defiant. 

“Shura…” Akio started, clearly going to be the first to speak out against her.

“Yes,” Shura turned her gaze on him, clearly attempting to stare him down.

Akio climbed to his feet and towered over her.  “I don’t think that everyone’s satisfied with that arrangement.” He told her calmly, his eyes glittering with mutiny.

Shura pushed Kenshin behind her and drew herself up to her full height, it had little impact as Akio was still a full head taller than her and with his wide, muscled bulk he seemed to dwarf her even more.  “Tell me Akio, are you speaking out against me, your leader?” she demanded in a dangerous tone.

They glared at each other, Kenshin could see from the way that Shura held her weapon that she was prepared to fight to defend her position as the leader given the slightest indication from Akio.  Akio seemed content to try and stare her down.  The tension was almost unbearable until the most levelheaded person of the group finally broke it.

“Come now everyone,” Yuu said, breaking the tension as he pulled himself to his feet with the help of his cane.  “Let’s go home.  Lady Shura did give the order didn’t she?  Let’s just leave that young fella’ in her hands.”

A disgruntled look passed over the features of many in the group, grumbling, the men got to their feet and started to leave the beach, one man helped Gekki to his feet.  Akio finally backed down with a slight smirk and joined his comrades as they made their way back to the village.

“This doesn’t feel right,” Gekki muttered behind Kenshin as his friend helped him walk away, Kenshin trained his ears to hear the other angry mutters of the men.

“…just because she’s the former bosses’ daughter.”

“Yeah, I just don’t get how she thinks…”

“Why’d we get stuck with her as the boss?”

“Maybe we’d be better off with someone else being in charge.”

_Her men aren’t very happy with her.  If she doesn’t watch out she’s going to wake up one morning with a knife at her throat._   Kenshin sighed internally as he observed Shura who seemed oblivious to the whisperings about her.  _If she wants to live she’s going to have to deal with that, sooner, rather than later._

“Sarujiro!” Shura snapped and the young boy jumped to her side in a flash, a look of complete adoration on his face.  “Bring me the prisoner’s sword.”

Sarujiro nodded excitedly, his dirt smeared face lighting up at the chance to be useful to the person he so obviously worshiped.  He hurried back to her side with Kenshin’s sword held in his hands and Shura accepted the blade from him with a gentle smile, giving the boy her sansetsukon in exchange. 

“Thanks,” she told him in an almost gentle tone.  “You should go now,” she told him and Yuu laid a hand on the boy’s shoulders and started to lead him slowly up the beach to the village.  _I can’t let anyone else do this,_ Shura thought in determination, her back to Kenshin.  She drew the sword, then turned and pointed the blade at him, dropping the sheath on the ground.

“Why didn’t you kill me before?” she demanded as she stepped forward and grabbed Kenshin’s hands, she smoothly cut the ropes with his sword and Kenshin looked at her in slight surprise that she had removed his bonds.  “Last night you could have finished me off easily but you intentionally didn’t kill me.”  Shura turned her head away in frustration as she remembered the fight.  The last instant when Kenshin had dodged her attack, she saw him flip his blade smoothly in his hand and then swing it, not at her who was completely wide open, but instead at her weapon, breaking it. 

“I don’t believe that I have ever felt so ashamed,” she confessed in anger.  She stabbed Kenshin’s sakabato into the sand leaving it standing straight up as she walked down the beach and retrieved Gekki’s sword, turning to face Kenshin with the blade.  “One more time,” she told Kenshin in a determined voice.  “Fight me one more time, and this time to the death.” 

Kenshin smiled brightly at a sudden passing thought, he laughed slightly as her attitude suddenly reminded him of the first and last time Kaoru had tried to get him to spar with her.  The look in Shura’s eyes now was the same as in Kaoru’s when Kenshin was deliberately attacking with less force than a child.  Kaoru had finally thrown him out of the dojo in rage, and even now would make the occasional comment that ‘she couldn’t see how Kenshin could be such a great fighter when a 7-year-old girl can hit harder’.

“Do you think it’s funny?” Shura demanded in suppressed rage, thinking that Kenshin was laughing at her and not a memory.

Kenshin shook his head as he rubbed his wrist where the ropes had bound him.  “This one is sorry,” he apologized.  “It was simply a passing thought, that it was.  I was thinking how I would have preferred to meet you under different circumstances Shura-dono.  Perhaps as friends.”  He looked at her with a gentle smile and Shura started at the overwhelming respect Kenshin was showing her with the use of –dono.  She wondered if it was all some kind of act to get her to spare his life, but she couldn’t see the slightest bit of deception in his face or tone.    “I don’t know why that came to this one’s mind just now, that I don’t,” Kenshin confessed.

Shura shook her head, not wanting Kenshin’s disarming attitude to shake her intentions.  “Take up your sword Himura,” she told him coldly.  “Take it and fight me, seriously this time.”  She raised her sword again, ready to attack the moment that Kenshin was armed.

“I have no intention of fighting you ever again Shura-dono, that I don’t,” Kenshin told her as he grabbed his sword out from the sand, turned his back on her, and walked back down the beach to retrieve his sheath.

“Why not?” Shura demanded, puzzled by Kenshin’s words.  “If you fight me and win you might have a chance of living, don’t you care about that?”

“Not really,” Kenshin replied simply, “this one swore his life to you in a deal.”  He picked up his sheath from the sand and resheathed his sword.  “Shura-dono, you were the one who spared Kaoru-dono’s life.  And for that reason, this one’s gives his life gladly.”  He turned back to face her and held his sword out to her in both hands, close to his body.  He closed his eyes, and bowed his head in submission, waiting for her to strike him down.

Shura clenched her teeth, _so he’s just going to let me kill him because of some girl?  Well fine, maybe he is a wimp after all.  No sense wasting my time trying to get him to fight then._ She lunged forward, aiming her sword at Kenshin’s throat, intending to make his death quick.  Somehow her lunge missed and she stabbed just inches from his throat, the sword cutting some of his hair.  She struggled against herself as she tried to force her hands to draw the sword across his throat and cut it, but her hands would only bring the sword up to his throat, not even touching the blade gently to his skin. 

_What’s wrong with me, why can’t I kill him?_   She wondered.  _He’s just some idiot who’s giving up his life because of some woman.  He made me look like a fool and his existence is causing my men to doubt me even more.  If I kill him then maybe I can win back their respect, that’s all I care about.  So why can’t I kill him?_

Kenshin opened his eyes to stare curiously at Shura, his look clearly asking why she didn’t kill him.  Shura jerked the sword back in anger and looked away from him.  “I don’t feel like killing you today,” she spat at him.  “I’ll do it tomorrow.”  She brought her sword up and pointed it at Kenshin, jerking his sakabato out of his hands and forcing him to turn around as she jabbed the sword into his back.  “March,” she ordered. 

Kenshin obeyed as Shura forced him up into the village and into a building that was tiny by the standards of Kaoru’s home (which was by no means a mansion) but was large in comparison with the other hut’s Kenshin had passed.  She forced Kenshin though the opening and the boy Sarujiro jumped to his feet from where he had been playing with some brightly colored blocks. 

“Sarujiro, bring a weapon and some rope with me, we need to secure the prisoner,” Shura ordered and the boy scrambled to obey.  Once the boy had gathered some rope and grabbed a cane, Shura led them all out onto a narrow path along the cliffs to an overhang near a waterfall where there were three poles stuck into the ground.  Shura stood over Kenshin with the sword while Sarujiro tied Kenshin’s hands behind him and securely around the pole.  Then Shura ordered the boy to stand guard over Kenshin for the night. 

“Don’t take your eyes off of him Saruijiro, do you understand?” she ordered and Sarujiro nodded eagerly in response.  “I’ll have Yuu or someone bring you food later on.”  With that she walked back down the path to the village.

Sarujiro sat down with his back to a pole directly across from Kenshin and watched him intently with a stern look on his face, his arms crossed.  Kenshin smiled slightly at the boy’s expression as he seemed determined to scare Kenshin despite his innocent features.

_He’s only a year or so older than Yahiko,_ Kenshin mused.  _And he has great respect for Shura-san._ “You seem like the serious type don’t you?” Kenshin asked pleasantly, trying to strike up a conversation with the boy.

The boy’s eyes narrowed slightly at him.  Kenshin decided to try another track, striking on the boy’s weakness.  “Shura-dono is kind to you isn’t she?”

The effect was immediate, the boy’s eyes lit up and he smiled happily, nodding his head in excitement. 

“You must be very fond of her, isn’t that right?” Kenshin prodded.

Sarujiro nodded his head happily.  He pulled out a small pipe from his grimly clothes and played a note on it, holding it out before striking up a simple tune.  Then he looked up at Kenshin expectantly.

“Shura-dono gave that to you?” Kenshin guessed.  “And taught you how to play it?”

Sarujiro nodded brightly, pleased that Kenshin had understood his message. 

“Do the others treat you as well?  Or is Shura-dono the one who looks after you?” Kenshin asked, trying to pry some information out of the boy.  _He must be mute,_ Kenshin thought at the boy’s continued silence.  _I can’t imagine the other pirates treating a mute boy with much kindness, more likely to make his life a living hell.  It would explain his admiration for Shura-san, she must be the one who keeps the men from abusing the boy and he’d do anything for her in turn._

The boy’s face looked slightly trouble at the mention of the other men, then his eyes narrowed in suspicion realizing that he shouldn’t be giving Kenshin any more information about the inner workings of the Kairyu.  He glared in response, crossing his arms. 

“I’m not meaning any harm Sarujiro, that I’m not.  This one was just curious that’s all,” Kenshin replied, trying to get the boy to open up to him.  He wanted to know more about Shura, it seemed like a prudent idea considering that his life expectancy was directly proportionate on her mood.  And knowing how she treated others around her seemed like a good indication of how many more hours Kenshin could expect to live.  But no matter how he tried the boy refused to drop his guard again.  Finally, Kenshin sighed and laid his head against the pole and watched the birds fly through the air and the breeze blow the trees gently, savoring his last hours.


	7. Senbonya’s Fortune

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING! This chapter does contain an attempted rape scene, if you prefer not to read such things you can skip the first section, otherwise, read on.

**Chapter 6**

**Senbonya’s Fortune**

Shura walked alone along the beach in the afternoon sun trying to sort out her thoughts.  She was frustrated as she tried to sort out why she had spared Kenshin’s life earlier.  She flopped onto the sand and laid on her back watching the clouds in the sky float by with the occasional seabird flapping its way in search of its next meal.  She had been thinking about the incident all afternoon and she finally realized what was holding her back from just killing Kenshin.  It was the image of him barely able to stand, pleading his life for the dazed and injured woman that Gekki had tried to kidnap.  Shura’s eyes narrowed as she remembered earlier in the fight, Kenshin hadn’t been attacking her men, he had only been defending himself and the woman when her men had attacked. 

 _What did he call her again?_ Shura thought, _that’s right he called her Kaoru.  She must be his lover, and he would give his life for her._ Shura sighed in regret, _what makes her so special that he would die for her?_   She thought bitterly, wishing that her men were half as loyal to her.  She heard footsteps approaching and she quickly got to her feet and brushed the sand off as best as she could while she glanced up at the intruder.  “Is there something you want Akio?” she asked coldly, upset at the distraction.

“Yeah,” Akio barked back.  “Tell me why you didn’t kill that guy earlier?  Don’t tell me that you’ve fallen in love with him or something.”

Shura made a face at him.  “What idiocy are you spouting now?” she snapped.  “Why would I do something like that?”

“Why?” Akio echoed, one brow raised in amusement.  “It’s because you’re a woman and women do stuff like that.”

Shura snorted in response, “I’ve never thought of myself as a woman.”  She started to leave, not wanting to continue the conversation but Akio grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

“Don’t be so shy,” he almost purred at her with a wicked smile.  “You’re pretty good looking for a woman.”

“Let go of me,” Shura told him coldly, her heart starting to beat wildly and she tried to ignore how isolated they were.

“Now come on Shura, I can make things so much easier for you,” Akio informed her smoothly as he drew her unwilling towards him.  “You know the crew has their problems with you, I can smooth them out. In return for certain favors…”

“What are you saying?” Shura gasped, her eyes wide as the meaning of his words hit her and she mentally withdrew from him, she pulled her sansetsukon out from where it was tucked in her belt, prepared to fight.

“Come on Shura, you aren’t a child, and I’m not blind.” Akio grabbed her roughly, wrenching her sansetsukon away before she could use it and tossing it across the beach before he forced her down to the ground and straddled her.  Shura didn’t hesitate.  She grabbed a handful of sand and threw into his eyes.  Akio drew back with a cry of pain as he tried to rub the sand away.  Shura scrambled away and onto her feet.  Turning around and punching Akio before he could react to fight back, then she rushed down the beach and grabbed her sansetsukon, turning around just as Akio was starting to pursue her and in time to whack him across the face with her weapon.  She stepped back, breathing hard, more from fear of what he had tried to do then anything.

“Let’s get this straight Akio,” Shura hissed at him.  “I am the _only_ leader of the Kairyu and you are just a glorified follower.  For your own sake I’ll forget what you tried to do just now but if you ever try to lay a finger on me again I’ll tack your hide onto my mast.”  With that she turned and stalked away, needing time alone after the attack.

Akio got to his knees, one hand clenched to the side of his face as blood streamed from a cut.  “That snooty bitch,” he spat.

From out of the tree line, Gekki approached with one raised eyebrow at Akio’s appearance but wisely said nothing.  “You know how we’d like to get rid of Shura?”  Gekki asked.

“What of it?” Akio snapped.

Gekki smiled in response, “I might have found a way to do it, come with me, I have something that should make every member of this crew swear their undying allegiance to you, and you alone.”

“What is it?” Akio asked with suspicion.

Gekki’s eyes glittered, “you’ll have to see it to believe it.” 

 

***

When they reach the port of Tateyama the first thing that hit Kaoru was the smell.  Unwashed bodies, rotten fish, and salty air formed a thick cloud of miasma that was only intensified by the summer sun.  Kaoru thought she might choke on the foul stench.  She covered her mouth and nose in a desperate attempt to avoid breathing in the noxious fumes. 

“Bit fragrant isn’t it?” Yahiko’s face wrinkled in disgust.  Kaoru thought that was an intense understatement.

Sanosuke looked at the two of them gagging in the air, “I’ve smell worse,” he shrugged before cheerfully stepping off the ship down to the docks.

“Yeah like your feet,” Yahiko muttered as he followed Sanosuke, careful to keep his voice down.

“Whose idea was it to come here anyways?” Kaoru demanded as she struggled to keep up with the others while also keeping her face covered with one hand without disrupting her other arm that was held in a makeshift sling.

“Oh quit your bitching,” Sanosuke shot back.

“Excuse me,” Kaoru snapped back in reply, “you want to say that to me again?”  She quickly made a mental note to get back at Sanosuke later when she had the chance.

“I told you to shut up already, we’ve got better things to do then argue over smelly docks or my choice of language, none of this is helping Kenshin you know.”  Sanosuke pointed out harshly.

Kaoru bit her lip, her anger fading in a moment and she was suddenly ashamed, wondering how she could be thinking about herself or her own feelings when Kenshin was in the hands of the pirates.

“So what exactly are we doing now?” Yahiko asked as he followed along.

 “I’m looking for an inn for the night,” Sanosuke responded simply.

“An inn?” Kaoru asked, slightly repulsed at the thought of staying in this town for a night.  “Why even brother right now?  There are still several hours of sunlight left, we should try and find any information on the Kairyu before we hole up in an inn for the night.”

“The inn ain’t for all of us, just you,” Sanosuke shot back.  “You are hardily in the condition to go tramping through town all day.”

“He has a point Kaoru,” Yahiko whispered to her.  “You are still pretty weak you know.”

“Yahiko, you do realize that I still have one good arm?” Kaoru hissed back dangerously.  She didn’t want to admit how much pain she was in and that the slightest wrench to her arm made her nearly double over gasping.  No matter what, she was determine to rescue Kenshin as soon as possible, bad shoulder or no.  She thought about arguing with Sanosuke about helping the others right up until she stumbled on the uneven street and without thinking about it reached out to grab Sanosuke next to her with her injured arm.  She cried out in pain the moment she moved her arm and started to collapse but Sanosuke grabbed her before she hit the ground.  The scene drew the attention of a few passerby’s as Sanosuke continued to support her until Kaoru was able to get back on her feet.

“So are you going to argue about that inn?” Sanosuke asked with an arched brow.

Kaoru shook her head, seeing Sanosuke’s point.  “Fine, let’s find an inn.”

Sanosuke nodded and led the way.  Yahiko stepped up next to Kaoru ready to support her if she showed the slightest sigh of stumbling.

It was much to Kaoru’s relief when Sanosuke led them through the maze of streets into a more respectable side of town that was far cleaner, with the scent of herbs and flowers instead of fish and sweat.  After stopping at a few inns to inquire about rooms, Sanosuke finally found one to his liking (that is to say cheap) and bought a room for the night.  “All right Kaoru, you stay here and hold down the fort, Yahiko and I will try and dig up some information.  We’ll be back for dinner.”  Sanosuke told her once they were shown to the room they would share for the night and with that Sanosuke and Yahiko left Kaoru in the simply finished room. 

Kaoru sighed as she sat down on the floor, careful to avoid jarring her shoulder.  She closed her eyes and took several breaths before opening them to face an empty room.  _Please find him,_ she thought as she silently prayed that Sanosuke and Yahiko would find some clue to Kenshin’s whereabouts. 

***

Gekki and Akio crouched in the small cave area where the Kairyu stored the booty.  Gekki held the torch as he raised the lid of one of the crates they had hauled off the latest Senbonya ship.  “I found it when I was inspecting the crates and the goods,” Gekki explained.  “One of them seemed a little funny and then I realized that it was a few inches shorter on the inside then it was tall.  It took a little while to get the false bottom out but then I found this.”  Gekki reached into the crate, removed the false bottom showing rows and rows of packets carefully laid.

Akio reached in and unwrapped one of the packets to revel that it was filled to the brim with a white powder.  He carefully tasted it and his eyes opened wide at the familiar sickly sweet taste.  “Is this really…?” he gasped as he looked at the rows again and started to do the math in his head.  The result he was coming up with was staggering.

“Yeah no doubt about it, “ Gekki snickered.  “Looks like old Senbonya was really making his money dealing in opium.  And this ain’t the only crate of it.  I’ve found at least five others so far and there are still several that I haven’t inspected yet.”

Akio’s head started reeling as the possibilities of what he could do with this information.  He smiled cruelly and carefully wrapped the packet up and placed it back with its fellows.  He got to his feet.  _So Senbonya must have been importing foreign opium and used his business of trading silks as a cover as he shipped the opium all around the country._ “Round the men up and bring them here, we’ve got a lot to discuss.”  He started to laugh.  “We’re going to knock that bitch off her high horse for good.”

***

Yahiko sighed as he leaned against a wall.  His feet were killing him after spending the whole day running around town asking various people, storekeepers, and police officers if they knew anything about the Kairyu.  So far he had nothing to show for his efforts, all anyone could tell him were the facts that he already knew.  _I hope Sano is having better luck_ , Yahiko thought grimly.  He struggled back to his feet, deciding to try and find Sanosuke before the sun set all the way and he would be forced to find his way back to the inn where Kaoru was waiting.  All his running around had given him a good idea as to the layout of the town and he figured out quickly were the shady side of town was.  He reasoned that Sanosuke would have headed to it first like a duck to water. 

Yahiko turned a corner for a merely poor neighborhood of field workers and their families to one that more openly embraced alternative methods to living.  Unlike the street he had just left, this one was well lit in preparation for the coming darkness and men were starting to fill the streets as the lowest elements of society were starting to emerge from their dens.  The prostitutes were comfortably housed behind the wooden bars of the brothels, lounging on various cushions in full view of potential customers.

There were already scores of men lining up to decide on their companion for the evening or being allowed into the brothel after handing over their money and choosing their companion.  Others were filing into the various gaming houses that moonlighted as restaurants but the gaming tables in the back were kept busy and away from prying eyes of any police officers who might stumble into the area by mistake.

Yahiko sighed when he spotted Sanosuke down the street, leaning against a porch next to one of the brothels carrying a conversation with the women just behind the bars.  Yahiko ducked through the crowd as he started making his way down the street, doing his best to remain unseen by the various guards around the brothels and gaming houses who would throw a kid like him out of the area without a second thought.  He finally made his way up next to Sanosuke without being seen and he ducked into the shadows to stay out of sight.

“Hey you, if you ain’t paying then get the hell out of here!” A burly man shouted when he saw Sanosuke still flirting with the prostates who giggled enthusiastically at whatever Sanosuke had just said.

“Relax big guy,” Sanosuke returned with a smile, reaching into some hidden pocket and retrieving his purse, juggling the hefty bag in one hand to rattle the coins within.  “I’ll pay for it, I’m just trying to decide who to start with, that’s all.”

The man snorted and eyed Sanosuke with an evil look but the sound of the coins rattling had an almost magical effect and his face shifted into a pleasant and subservient smile.  “Take all the time you need sir.”  He replied in a pleasant tone with a slight bow.  “After all, ours are the best girls around, you won’t be disappointed.”

“Now where were we?” Sanosuke asked as he turned back to the four women watching him with eager eyes behind the bars once the burly man had retreated back to his watch.

“You were just about to explain why you are always mooching off of us when you’re carrying around a small fortune,” Yahiko snapped behind him causing Sanosuke to start.  “And why you’re carousing when you’re supposed to be working?”  Sanosuke twirled around to see Yahiko glaring at him angrily from under the shadows of the building, trying the stay hidden.

“What are you doing here?” Sanosuke demanded with wide eyes.  “Kaoru isn’t around is she?” He asked with worried eyes as he glanced up and down the street in fear that Kaoru might be coming to deal out her own form of punishment. 

“She ought to be,” Yahiko snorted.  “She’d have your hide if she knew what you were doing while Kenshin’s gone.”

“Oh is this your son trying to get you home to your wife?” one of the girls asked with a giggle.  This wasn’t the first time they had seen a family member dragging a man home to his wife and children and away from their company.

“Oh good gods no,” Sanosuke and Yahiko swore fervently.  “He’s not my kid,” Sanosuke added.  “My dad wasn’t a loser like him,” Yahiko finished at the same time.

“Your little brother then?” another woman asked with a tip of her head causing the elaborate ornaments in her hair to clang softly in response.

“No relation,” Sanosuke waved off.

“What’s your name boy?” the youngest of the women asked with wide eyes as she peered at Yahiko in the shadows.

“Yahiko Myojin,” Yahiko answered a little nervously as all the women were now focused solely on him. 

“Come into the light where we can see you,” they called and Yahiko stepped further into the shadows.

“Umm…” Yahiko licked his lips nervously, looking for a way out.  “No thanks, I’ve just got to grab Sano here and we’ll get out of your way.”

“Oh come on don’t be shy, we don’t bite,” the youngest one assured him playfully.

“Unless that’s what the customer pays for,” what looked to be the oldest one added with a mischievous look in her eye.

“Sano we’re getting out of here,” Yahiko hissed, grabbing Sanosuke’s arm before Sanosuke could respond to the girls comments.

“Now wait a minute,” Sanosuke started, planting his feet firmly to keep Yahiko from dragging him off but Yahiko was already two steps ahead of him, inspired by what the women had asked earlier.

“Daddy, daddy please come home.  Mommy’s sick, you have to take care of her!”  Yahiko sobbed loudly, catching the attention of everyone nearby as he flung his arms around Sanosuke, holding him in a death grip that Sanosuke was unable to release.

“What the hell are you doing kid?” Sanosuke demanded as he struggled to free himself.

“Please daddy, please come home, mommy needs you!” Yahiko continued, crying as loudly as he could, trying his best to force his voice into the higher pitches of a younger boy.

“What the hell is going on here?” the man from before demanded as he stepped through the crowd that was laughing at Sanosuke’s plight.  He eyed Sanosuke evilly, upset that he was causing a distraction for potential customers.

“A little help, this crazy kid has me confused,” Sanosuke tried to pled over the laughter of the prostitutes behind him who were clearly enjoying the sight.

“This kid ain’t yours?” the man demanded as he glared at Yahiko.

Sanosuke shook his head, still trying to free himself, “never seen him before in my life.”

“You ain’t going to see your money ever again Sano,” Yahiko suddenly stopped crying, looked at Sanosuke for one moment with an evil grin that went from ear to ear before taking off down the street.  It took Sanosuke a full second to realize what Yahiko had done.

 _He used to be a pickpocket for the yakuza…_ in horror Sanosuke grasped where his purse used to be.  “YOU LITTLE BRAT!”Sanosuke roared as he tore through the crowd after Yahiko.  “THIS TIME YOUR DEAD!!!”

Sanosuke followed the trail of boyish laughter like a bloodhound.  People quickly got out of his way, afraid to tangle with this giant of a man with crazed eyes and a look of murder as he screamed profanities at the figure ahead of him.  He finally caught up with the boy at the gate of the inn where Kaoru was.  Yahiko was casually tossing the purse up and down in one hand as he learned against the gatepost.  A devilish smiled played across his lips.

“You,” Sanosuke voice trembled in rage, his fists clenched so hard that his whole arms shook in fury.  With all the horrible things he could say to Yahiko he managed to sum it up all into one word.  “If you don’t give me that back …” Sanosuke was cut off suddenly when Yahiko casually tossed the purse to Sanosuke who caught it out of instinct.

“I don’t need your money,” Yahiko scoffed.  “And how could you even think about bedding some whore when Kenshin’s probably either dead or being tortured anyways?”  Yahiko demanded incredulously.

Sanosuke shook his head to clear it as he pocketed the purse.  “I was thinking about Kenshin you idiot,” he retorted and Yahiko snorted in response.  Sanosuke glared at the boy who had crossed his arms in defiance.  “Whores hear _everything_ ,” Sanosuke explained.  “Plus their women so they love to blab, you just have to ask the right kind of questions and they spill everything.  If there was anything to know about the Kairyu in this town then those girls would have known it.  Plus the pirates might had bought their services if they have ever stopped here.  And you had to butt in right when I was trying to decide which one probably knew the most and get a private conversation with her.”

“Would that conversation be before or after some fooling around?” Yahiko asked with an arched brow.

Sanosuke contemplated that for a second, “before, I’m all business before pleasure.”

“You need help,” Yahiko spat back.  “If you even think about fooling around before we get Kenshin back then I’m telling Kaoru all about this.”  With that Yahiko spun on his heel and stalked into the inn with Sanosuke on his heels muttering under his breath. 

“Did you find anything?” Kaoru blurted out the moment that Yahiko and Sanosuke stepped through the door.

“Not a damn thing,” Yahiko swore as he plopped on the floor, not even caring if Kaoru punished him for his language.

“Me either, we’ll have to do some more snooping around tomorrow,” Sanosuke added as he sat down.

“Oh,” Kaoru looked down on the floor, her face shifting into a look of hopelessness.

“It’ll be all right Kaoru, we’ll find something,” Yahiko assured her, feeling for her plight.  _How bad has it got to be when she can’t even help in the search for Kenshin?_ Yahiko wondered.

“So did you order some dinner yet or what?” Sanosuke asked, clapping his hands together in anticipation.

Yahiko shot him a dirty look, wondering how he could seem so happy with all that was going on.

Kaoru’s eyelashes fluttered in Sanosuke’s general direction but she didn’t raise her face to look at him.  “No, not yet,” she answered softly, it was clear from her tone that the thought of food hadn’t crossed her mind at all.

Sanosuke sighed before getting to his feet, “never mind, I’ll take care of it.” 

Yahiko followed Sanosuke with hot eyes as he left the room.  _I can’t figure out if he really wants to get Kenshin back or not sometimes,_ Yahiko thought bitterly.  _And he doesn’t seem to care what Kaoru’s going through right now._ Yahiko turned to her with sympathetic eyes.  Kaoru seemed to shrink into herself, lost in some private hell.  Yahiko bit his lip.  _I can’t just sit here and stuff my face while Kenshin’s in danger like this, and especially not with Kaoru looking like this._   “Hey Kaoru, I’ll be back in a bit, you guys go ahead and start dinner without me.”  Yahiko told her before he rushed out of the room before Kaoru could stop him.  _There has to be someone in this town who knows something!_

_***_

Senbonya sat alone in the best inn the town of Tateyama had to offer.  He was doing his best to make it through every bit of saki the inn would send into his room.  The room was starting to spin around him but he didn’t care, he just kept drinking.  “I’m so sick a tired,” he slurred.  “All those Kairyu pirates damn.  They must have found the laughing and are opium at me right now.”  He downed his cup and started to pour himself another but found that the bottle was empty.  Sighing he dropped the bottle on the ground and reached for another to find that it was also empty.

“Why does this always happen to me?” he demanded loudly as he chucked the bottle away.  Even he wasn’t sure if he meant the pirate attack or the empty saki bottle.

“I feel so sorry for you,” a deep voice answered and Senbonya blinked in confusion, looking around for the source of the voice.

“There’s who?” he slurred, blinking as he looked around.  The door to the outside slide open and he found him facing a giant of a man, heavily muscled and it took a moment for his befuddled mind to realize where he had seen the man before.

“You must be a glutton for punishment,” the man continued smoothly as he strolled forward.

Senbonya shrunk back in fear, too drunk to even think of calling out for help.  “You’re the pirate,” he gasped.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Akio demanded as he grabbed Senbonya’s neck with one hand and applied light pressure that caused Senbonya to start gasping before he released his grip slightly to let him breathe.  “I’m here to bring you some good news, that’s what.”

“G-good news?”Senbonya stuttered in fear.

“From now on, the Kairyu will be the ones to deliver all that opium for you, in return you are going to give us something that we want.” 

“What’s that?”  Senbonya gasped.

Akio smiled as he leaned forward and whispered his demands to Senbonya.

***

Sanosuke finished scoffing down his meal and looked with eager eyes at Yahiko’s portion that was left untouched as the boy still hadn’t returned from whatever errand he had run off on.  He glanced in annoyance at Kaoru who sat with her good hand in her lap, her eyes downcast and her tray untouched.

“How long are you going to be like that?” Sanosuke demanded.  “Hurry up and eat something, they can’t clean up until you do.”  He pointed out.

“It’s my fault that Kenshin was captured,” Kaoru whispered softly.  “I’m sure that he hasn’t been given anything yet.  So how can I think about eating?”

Sanosuke looked at her with sad eyes.  Despite the fact that he was trying to act as though Kenshin’s capture wasn’t affecting him in the slightest, the truth was he was living in constant torment at the thought of one his friends in the hands of the pirates.  He had done nothing but blame himself from the moment he heard of Kenshin’s capture and it was in no way eased when Kaoru had told them the reasons why Kenshin had given himself up.  If anything, it was only strengthened by that confession.  _Not only is Kenshin in trouble, but Kaoru’s hurt and not just physically, and then there’s Yahiko, the kid’s already lost enough people._

Sanosuke gave a mental sigh, when Yahiko had caught him earlier with the prostitutes Sanosuke had lied to the boy when he said that he was going to sleep with them after getting his information.  In truth, he wasn’t in the mood for any kind of fooling around.  He was doing his best to put on a bright face and act normally to keep Kaoru and Yahiko from worrying too much.  He wasn’t sure how Yahiko was taking it but at least he had managed to knock the boy out of his earlier despair and gotten him to take some action.  He could see that nothing he was doing was having any effect on Kaoru.  Once it was clear that with her injury she was now practically worthless in helping to look for Kenshin she had just sunk into a depression. 

 _Well if being practical doesn’t work shoot for annoying._ “Suit yourself,” Sanosuke shrugged calmly, locking his black thoughts back firmly as he picked up his almost empty soup bowl and supped loudly on it.  It had the desired effect of shaking Kaoru into action but not in the way Sanosuke hoped.

Kaoru waited until Sanosuke lowered his bowl before picking up her untouched bowl of rice and threw it right into Sanosuke’s face.

 “I hope you chock on it!” she screamed.  “You’re nothing but a heartless bastard!”

Sanosuke waited until the room came back into focus before responding while he cleaned the rice off of himself.  “I may be heartless but you can’t fight a war on an empty stomach, besides what would Kenshin say if he saw you like this anyways?”

Tears sprung to Kaoru’s eyes.  With visible effort she picked up her chopsticks and started eating slowly.

Sanosuke smiled slightly, “that’s a good girl.  Don’t worry, once we figure out where Kenshin’s being held we’ll rent/borrow a boat, sail out there, and get him back.  He’ll be all right you’ll see.  It’ll take more than some old pirates to do him in.”

The door suddenly flung back and Yahiko rushed into the room, both Sanosuke and Kaoru glanced up in surprise at the boy.  His cheeks were flushed from running and his eyes were bright.  “Hey you guys, I was thinking earlier that maybe Senbonya or maybe some of his people might know something about the Kairyu so I tracked down where they were staying and right before I went into ask them some questions I saw Senbonya leaving with that big pirate guy.”

“A pirate?” Kaoru and Sanosuke gasped together.  “Are you sure?”

Yahiko nodded his head quickly before continuing in a rush.  “Positive, it was one of the Kairyu.  Come on, we’re got to go after them, I followed them down to the docks and they were starting to load some stuff onto a ship so I thought it was a good time to come back and grab you guys.  Is that dinner?”  Yahiko asked as he glanced at the food.

“Pirates first,” Sanosuke snapped back as he got to his feet, Kaoru a second behind.

“But...” Yahiko trailed off as he looked longingly at the tray of food.  Kaoru sighed, grabbed the dumplings on a stick from her and Yahiko’s tray, and shoved them into the boy’s hand.  “Lead the way,” she ordered as they rushed out of the room.  Yahiko scoffed his food down as they ran.  He led them down to the deserted area of the docks where the Senbonya’s ship was.  They ducked into the shadows as they watched several of the Kairyu pirates loading crates onto a small boat.  Sanosuke glanced across the harbor and saw a ship off in the distance that he realized must be the pirates’ ship.

“There’s no mistaking it, it’s them all right,” Sanosuke whispered as he recognized the fish-like man from the night before. 

“Great so what do we do now?” Yahiko asked, hoping that his stomach didn’t start rumbling, the dumplings doing little to shave off his hunger. 

“There’s only one thing to do,” Kaoru pointed out.  Her previous depression gone in the moment a chance to help Kenshin presented itself.  “We follow them.”

“That’s pretty risky, you up to it?” Sanosuke whispered as he twisted his head to catch Kaoru’s eye.

Kaoru nodded her head in determination and Sanosuke gave her a fierce grin.  “All right, leave this next part up to me.  I’ll get us on their ship.”

***

The cool night air coming off the ocean blew Kenshin’s bangs gently across his face.  He stared up at the waning moon that was now nothing more than a thin sliver in the sky, admiring the gentle glow that it cast over the landscape.  Around him, he could hear the pounding of the sea against the cliffs, the constant roar of the waterfall off to his right, and the snores of Sarujiro who had fallen asleep several hours before.  Kenshin judged the time to be well past midnight, he sat back against his pole and stared back up at the moon.  He smiled as he enjoyed the gentle peace of his life.  _I find it a little disappointing,_ he thought to himself with a trace of humor.  _The last moon I’ll ever see and it isn’t even a full moon._ Kenshin laughed to himself softly, careful to keep from disturbing the sleeping boy.  All in all his day hadn’t been that bad.  True he was tired and cramping for sitting tied to a pole all day, he had been released a couple of times to see to personal needs and had been fed a few times as well.  It was far better treatment then he had expected.

 _To think that I could reach the end of my life so peacefully.  I could die a happy man.  My only regret is…_ Kenshin closed his eyes as Kaoru’s face rose up in his mind’s eye.  _This will hurt her but Sano and Yahiko will look after her.  She’ll be all right in time.  She’s too strong not to get through this._

Kenshin turned his head at the sound of footsteps approaching.  He looked in curiosity as he saw Shura emerge from the darkness.  She glanced at him once and then turned her head away and walked right past him with crossed arms.

“Is there something that you want to talk to this one about?” Kenshin asked politely, Shura wasn’t armed and Kenshin doubted that she wandered all the way up there on a whim.

“There is one thing I want to know,” Shura conceded.

“What is it?” Kenshin inquired, wondering what question was keeping Shura up so late.

“What kind of woman is she?” Shura asked calmly without the slightest hint of embarrassment.  “That woman named Kaoru…”

Kenshin’s eyes opened in surprise at the choice of topic, “Why would you like to know?”

“I don’t have to tell you why!” Shura snapped, she took a deep breath and continued in a calmer tone, still keeping her back to him.  “I just wanted to know what kind of woman is she that a man like you doesn’t seem to mind giving up your life for her.”

“Stubborn,” Kenshin blurted out without thinking.  “Impossible to reason with, convinced that she’s always right, even when’s she’s wrong.  Drives you to the point of insanity until you don’t even know which way is up and down, that you don’t.  And she is probably the worst cook in Japan.  This one wouldn’t be surprised if she burned water, that I wouldn’t.”  _In fact I think she has before…_

Shura turned to looked at Kenshin in puzzlement.  “So why would you want to die for someone like that?”

Kenshin smiled gently back, “because Kaoru-dono is more than that.  She’s like the seasons, always changing but yet there are things about her that this one doubts has or will ever change.”

“Like what?” Shura seemed truly interested, as she faced him with earnest eyes.

Kenshin took a deep breath, looking up at the moon.  “Kaoru-dono is strong enough that she never thinks of herself when she’s helping others even if helping them only hurts her.  She has a way of trusting and believing in a person no matter what they have done as long as they truly want to change.  She is surrounded by people who care about her, respect her, and would do anything for her.  And yet…”  Kenshin took another deep breath before going on.  “And yet deep in her soul is a lonely little girl who lost the one most dear to her and is afraid to be alone.”  Kenshin turned to Shura as a sudden thought hit him.  “Come to think of it, you’re a little like Kaoru-dono, aren’t you Shura-dono?”

Shura recoiled back in shock.  “I-I didn’t ask about me!” she retorted.  She looked over as Sarujiro started a little at the sound of her raised voice before he slipped back into sleep.  A gentle smile crossed Shura’s lips at the sight of the sleeping boy and she walked over and sat next to him, watching him sleep.  “I have a lot of people around me,” Shura explained to Kenshin.  “I’ve never felt that I was lonely.  Everyone has been fighting in the memory of my father.”

“You were very fond of your father weren’t you Shura-dono.” It was a statement, not a question.

Shura glanced up and gestured in a motion that took in the whole island.  “This village used to be a very poor fishing community that stood on the brink of starvation many years ago before the revolution.  If my father hadn’t  stepped forward, all of the children would have starved to death.  And now all the children that he saved are now a part of my crew.  All of them are great fighters who were raised by my father.”

“So your father started the Kairyu then?” Kenshin inquired, interested.

Shura nodded and then started telling Kenshin in detail the origins of the Kairyu.


	8. An Opium Fueled Mutiny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry about the late posting, got distracted by life stuff over here but here is the next chapter fresh off the editing press!

**Chapter 7**

**An Opium Fueled Mutiny**

The lantern in the cargo hold swayed gently to and fore as the ship rocked on the open sea.  Akio, Gekki, and several other pirates huddled over the goods they had loaded onto the ship while Senbonya crouched uncomfortably a few steps away from the group, looking as though he wished he was anywhere but there.  The pirates almost completely ignored his presence as they surveyed the goods. 

“Guess Senbonya is a pretty good guy,” Akio barked.  “He’s graciously donating all this money to our good cause.”  Akiro grabbed Senbohya in a rough embrace, dragging him over to the others.  Senbonya hunkered even more under the man’s touch.  “See, giving is its own rewards,” Akio taunted and Senbonya just collapsed further into himself.  “But that’s only the beginning, all these crates that we’ve been loading all night are filled with foreign guns and gunpowder, it appears as though Senbonya deals in more than silks and opium.”

“You serious?”Gekki gasped in shock.  The crate of money they had been ogling at suddenly paled in comparison. 

Akio nodded and the group of men started pushing forward in eager anticipation.  “Come on let us see!” they cried.

“Don’t get carried away, “Akio stopped them, “we can all see now, we have to inspect the goods anyways.”  The pirates moved one of the crates over and pried the top off.  Then they stood admiring the guns, a few of the men picking up a weapon and turned it over in their hands.

Meanwhile Sanosuke, Kaoru, and Yahiko huddled in the back of the cargo hold praying that the pirates wouldn’t make it to the small corner they were in.  With the announcement of the guns, Yahiko clenched his fists and started forward but Sanosuke stopped him.  He shook his head at the boy, holding a finger up to his lips.  Kaoru then grabbed the boy and forced him to sit down next to her.  Grudgingly Yahiko obeyed them. 

“These are amazing guns,” Gekki exclaimed as he turned a rifle over and over in his hands and then took aim, testing the feel of the weapon.

“Indeed,” Akio agreed.  “With all these weapons here it’ll be a piece of a cake to convince the others to follow me and overthrow Shura.  And then we’ll have a steady stream of cash delivering the opium for Senbonya here.  He’s even made arrangements for us to have a new ship delivered so that we can finally trash this old heap.”

“Bout time,” Gekki snorted.  “Shura always insisted on using this death trap because it was her father’s ship.”

“So you guys with me then?” Akio asked.

“Aye, Captain,” the men answered in salute.

 _This isn’t good, a mutiny will only make finding Kenshin tougher,_ Sanosuke mused.  _But it’ll also provided us some cover, after all, everything’s going to be turned upside down for a while._ He glanced over in alarm as he felt Kaoru cringe back next to him, clasping one hand over her mouth.  

Sanosuke saw the large brown rat sniffing curiously at her feet and Kaoru was inching back away as calmly as she could.  Yahiko clasped both hands around Kaoru’s mouth to keep her from making a noise.  Sanosuke just reach forward, grabbed the rat by the tail, and flung it off to the other side of the hold.  The rat hit the deck with a squeal and Sanosuke grimaced at the noise.  He glanced back at the others and Yahiko gave him a look that clearly said _nice going idiot._

“What the hell was that?” one of the men called in alarm at the sound of the rat.

The men jumped back as the rat went scurrying across the floor to disappear into another stack of crates.

“Just a rat,” one of the men scoffed.

“Something’s got it worked up,” Gekki mused and he took a glance at the back of the cargo hold.  He thought he saw a flash of white that moved quickly back behind the crates.  He thought for moment about calling out an alarm but stopped himself.  _No telling how many are back there and if their spies for Shura…_ Gekki walked over to Akiro while the men had gone back to surveying the weapons.  “Akio,” he whispered in an undertone.  “We may have a problem…”

***

The cargo hold was pitch dark, the only light came from a lantern behind the door to the hold.  Sanosuke, Kaoru, and Yahiko waited patiently in the dark until they could no longer hear the sounds of the men moving about the ship.

“All right, guess we’ve finally docked, time to move out,” Sanosuke whispered to the others.  He took point with the others following a step behind him on silent feet.  They crept out of the hold and into a narrow hallway making their way to the deck of the ship.  Kaoru paused as she sniffed the air, a strange sizzling sound filling the hallway.

“What’s that smell?” she whispered urgently.

Sanosuke paused for a moment as he sniffed the air, the smell was hauntingly familiar.  “Gunpowder!” he gasped aloud as the smell and the sizzling sound clicked together in his mind.  “Come on guys we’ve got to get out of here!”  Kaoru and Yahiko froze in terror but Sanosuke didn’t hesitate.  He grabbed Yahiko’s collar and practically carried the boy with one arm while his other hand was firmly grasped around Kaoru’s good arm, dragging the two out of the ship and out to the deserted deck.  They had just reached the side of the deck when the first explosion tore through the ship and sent them all flying.

***

The sound of a distant explosion halted Shura in midsentence and jolted Sarujiro awake.  They all glanced in the direction of the explosion, Shura now on her feet as she gazed across the curve of the island to see the flames in the harbor.  Her heart froze when she realized the source of the fire, _my ship…_

“Sarujiro stay here and watch over Himura.” Shura ordered the boy before she started off towards the harbor.

“Wait Shura-dono!” Kenshin called out from behind and Shura spun on one heel to face him.  “I have an idea as to what just happened and you shouldn’t go.” He warned her with an earnest expression.

She wrinkled her face up in annoyance, “they are _my_ crew and there might be trouble.  It’s my duty to see to their safety.”

“You shouldn’t trust them all so blindly, not all of them feel the way you do and you know it!” Kenshin retorted, trying to convince her to stay.  “You should stay by this one’s side Shura-dono.”

“So what, you can protect me?” Shura asked in anger.  “You are _my_ prisoner and I don’t take orders for you.”  She spat before she ran off into the darkness.

Kenshin raised his eyebrows at the retreating woman, “not listening to people is another trait you have in common,” Kenshin observed sarcastically as he continued to compare Shura and Kaoru.  He twisted his wrist as he spoke, pulling against his bonds.  “You’re just like her.”  With that Kenshin had twisted his left hand into the right position and he winced as he dislocated his left thumb and managed to jerk his left hand through the bonds first before relocating his thumb with a grimace.  “I can never get used to this,” he grumbled.

Meanwhile Sarujiro was looking between Kenshin and where Shura had disappeared off to, obviously confused as to what he should do.  “Sarujiro,” Kenshin snapped and the boy’s head twisted around to stare at him with wide eyes.  “You stay here, I’ll bring Shura-dono back to safety,” Kenshin told him firmly.  The boy nodded, Kenshin wasn’t sure if he was accepting the order or not, but he didn’t spare a thought for it as he took off down the path after Shura.

 _Why doesn’t anyone ever listen to the person who knows what they’re doing when everything goes to hell?_ Kenshin thought bitterly.  _Just once I’d like a woman to listen to me when I tell her to not try and get herself killed.  I think it would be a refreshing change. Break up the monotony._

Shura skidded to a halt halfway down the path at the sight of several of her men coming up the way.  “What exactly is going on?  How did the ship explode and is everyone all right?” Shura demanded.

The men grinned wickedly at her, “this here is called an old fashion mutiny and you’re on the wrong side of it.”

Shura gasped and took a step back, suddenly well aware of the fact that she was unarmed and these five men were far from it as they held their weapons up and pointed them at her.  She thought about running but the path only led back up to where Kenshin and Sarujiro were and she didn’t want to involve the boy if she could help it.

“Now, now if you come along quietly you might even live,” they told her coldly.

“Why are you doing this?” Shura demanded, tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes, she stood down, knowing that she had little chance against them unarmed.  “What about following the principles of the Kairyu?”

Two men grabbed her arms roughly, twisting her hands behind her back in preparation for binding her wrists while the other three stood back for the moment.  “You’re the only idiot who ever believed in those stupid ideals, the rest of us were just in it for the loot.”

Shura and the men glanced up at the sound of running feet to watch in shock as Kenshin came running towards them, the rope from his bonds held in one hand.  He leapt forward, towards the men.  One of the men holding Shura moved forward to meet Kenshin’s charge, pulling out his two tofu’s  and swinging the moment Kenshin came in range.  Kenshin ducked under the blow, and twisted away from the second, using the rope, he flung it around the man’s neck and on his next dodge, he used his momentum to knock the man to the ground, giving him a shove so the pirates head bounced off the rocky ground, stunning him.  Kenshin picked up the pirate’s tofu’s and knocked Shura behind him as the other man grabbed his bo to face off with Kenshin. 

“Shura-dono get out of here, no argument this time,” Kenshin hissed at her as he blocked a swing from the man’s bo, the area filled with the loud clacking as wood met wood.

Shura stared in shock of Kenshin coming to her rescue.  “Umm okay.”

The man swung his bo in a downward sweep and Kenshin stepped out of the way, waiting till the bo hit the ground before he took one step forward on the bo and smashed one tofu into the man’s nose, knocking him backwards.  He straightened up as the other three men hesitated to launch another attack.  All of the men had seen Kenshin fight before and so were now hesitated to engage.

“Shura-dono get the hell out of here now!” Kenshin yelled behind him as Shura was still standing in the same spot, amazed that her prisoner had turned into her rescuer.

Shura shook her head and took two steps backwards before she saw Gekki step forward with a rifle in his hands.

“You’re not bad,” Gekki laughed at Kenshin.  He pointed his rifle at Kenshin and Kenshin crouched with an angry scowl.  “Hope you’re ready to die Shura,” Gekki announced as he adjusted his aim towards Shura.

Shura backed away in fear as Gekki pulled the trigger.  Kenshin was one step ahead as he threw one tofu and hit the rifle, knocking Gekki’s aim off.  The bullet tore through her thigh and Shura dropped to the ground with a scream.  She held her wound, feeling the rush of warm blood spilling from between her fingers.  _Damn, damn, damn_ she swore.

“Shura-dono,” Kenshin yelled as he ran to her while Gekki recocked his repeating rifle and aimed it again.  He let off another shot as Kenshin picked Shura up and started running forward, the bullet hitting the rocks off to Kenshin’s side.  _Glad that he doesn’t know how to aim,_ Kenshin thought bitterly.  He didn’t hesitate as another group of pirates arrived on the scene aiming their rifles and firing, the bullets hitting the ground on Kenshin’s heels.  Kenshin just ran straight as fast as he could right to the end of the cliff and leapt off.

There were moments in his life that Kenshin had pulled stupid maneuvers like this before.  And every time he had always wondered what idiocy had made him decide that was the best course of action.  This time was no different.  _Stupid, stupid, why the hell did you jump off a cliff?_ Kenshin wondered as he and Shura fell through the air to the water below with the roar of the waterfall to his right.

“I can’t believe they really jumped!” Gekki laughed in amusement.  He and the others walked to the edge of the cliff and glanced down into the water far below.  There was no sign of the couple in the swirling water below them.  “You know I hear that when you jump off a cliff that your sprit can’t rise,” Gekki laughed.

“Guess we don’t get to have a little fun with Shura after all,” one of the men laughed.

“Well we can always find some other woman,” another man answered crudely. 

Up around the bend where Sarujiro waited he had seen Kenshin jump off the cliff with Shura in his arms.  He looked at the men in fear as they laughed and joked among themselves.  Finally, they grew bored and walked back down the path to the village while Sarujiro continued to look into the churning water below, willing for some sign that they had survived the fall.

After what seemed an eternity, he saw a head emerge from the water and fight its way to the shore.  Sarujiro gasped in relief as he saw Kenshin pulling Shura unto the rocky shore.  He looked up, checking that there was no one around before he scrambled to his feet and made his way through the woods, picking a seldom used path that would lead him to the bottom of the waterfall.

***

Sanosuke’s head broke through the surface of the water and he gasped air.  He took a look around him, off to his side was the pirate ship burning, and all around him was various debris from the burning ship.  He glanced frantically around for Kaoru and Yahiko, tredding water as he tried to see if they had made it through the explosion.  He heard someone gasping in pain behind him and he turned around to see Kaoru pulling herself up onto a piece of wood, getting her wounded shoulder out of the water. 

“I see you made it Missy,” Sanosuke breathed with a slight grin.

“Barely,” Kaoru gasped, “this salt water is killing my shoulder.  When I find the jerk who set that explosion I’m going to give him a piece of my mind.”

“Kaoru!  Sano!”

Kaoru and Sanosuke looked up as they heard Yahiko’s frantic yells as he searched from them, unable to see them through the debris. 

“Yahiko over here!”Sanosuke yelled, trying to pinpoint where Yahiko’s voice was echoing from.  They heard the sound of some splashing for a moment before they spotted Yahiko swimming towards them.

 “I can’t believe they blew up their own ship,” Yahiko commented as he joined them.

“Yeah well they run around half naked so we can’t expect them to have the best sense in the world,” Kaoru pointed out.

“Let’s get out of the water and get dry,” Sanosuke broke in.  “And we’re going to need to clean Kaoru’s shoulder up to make sure it doesn’t get infected.”

“Right,” Kaoru and Yahiko agreed.

***

Gekki lead Akio up to the edge of the cliff that Kenshin had leaped off of and they looked down in to the churning water below.

“So this is where they went off?” Akio asked.

“Sure is,” Gekki affirmed.   “Too bad, we won’t even be able to recover their bodies now.  They’ll be at the bottom for sure.”

Akio sneered, “well I would have been more confident if we had Shura as a prisoner or her corpse but I guess we’ll have to settle for this.”  He looked up at Gekki, “withdraw all the men back to the village.  We need to make preparations for the next phase of our careers now that that bitch is out of our way.”

***

Kenshin dragged himself and Shura up the rocks, once he had gotten both of them mostly out of the water and made sure that Shura was breathing, he collapsed in exhaustion, panting.  _I’ve been jumping off a lot of cliffs recently,_ he thought warily.  _I wonder if that is some type of reflection on me or the lifestyle that I have chosen?_

Kenshin took another couple of breaths before he forced himself to get to his feet and pick Shura up from the ground.  _She doesn’t look good,_ Kenshin thought as he observed her pale face.  _She’s probably going into shock from the wound and the cold water.  I need to get her someplace warm and see to that injury as soon as possible._   He glanced around at the unfamiliar landscape and felt at a loss, _but where is somewhere safe?_   He wondered.

Moving slowly forward while carrying Shura, Kenshin found himself wishing that he hadn’t lost his sandals to the waterfall as the rocks cruelly dug into his feet.  Kenshin had just moved away from the water and was walking through the rocks near the falls when he heard the sound of running feet ahead of him.  Instantly suspecting that it was the pirates there to finish Shura and him off, he quickly ducked behind a boulder, set Shura carefully on the ground, and laid in wait for his pursuer to appear.    Once the figure rounded the corner Kenshin took only a moment to be sure that they were alone before he dashed out and grabbed the pirate’s hadajuban, arm barred him across the throat, and slammed him up against another bolder.  The pirate struggled for a minute before they managed to twist their head enough to bite Kenshin’s arm.

Kenshin yelled in pain but didn’t let go until he realized who the pirate must be based upon his small stature.  “Sarujiro?” he questioned, releasing his grip slightly as he tried to peer through the darkness and make out his face.  Kenshin felt him nod his head and Kenshin released the boy.  “I’m sorry, I thought that you might have been the others wishing to do further harm to Shura-dono.”  Kenshin apologized.

Sarujiro tugged on his sleeve and Kenshin furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to figure out what the boy wanted.  “Do you want this to come with you?” he asked.  He saw the dim form of the boy nodding again.  “All right, this one will follow.  We need someplace safe to see to Shura-dono, that we do.”  Kenshin informed the boy as he proceed to walk back to where he had left Shura, picked her up, and then allowed Sarujiro to lead him through a maze of rocks.

Kenshin soon realized that Sarujiro was leading Kenshin to the base of the waterfall.  Once they were just a foot away from the falls Sarujiro suddenly vanished and Kenshin blinked, not seeing where the boy had gone.  “Sarujiro?” he called softly, aware that there may be others around.

Kenshin felt a tug on his sleeve from off to his side and he glanced over and saw that he had walked right past the entrance to a cave in which Sarujiro was standing in the mouth, almost invisible in the darkness.  Kenshin analyzed the placement of the cave in discouraging pursers and had to admit that it was ideal.  The entrance was hidden in a ridge of the cliff, the path they had come down would make the entrance invisible to those coming in the direction that they had come and would also be unseen to those looking at the cliffs from the front.  The only way that one could find the entrance was if they walked almost into the falls and turned around. 

He sighed with relief that for the moment they were safe, assuming that the other pirates didn’t know about the location of the cave.  Kenshin squeezed through the narrow entrance without bumping Shura against the sides of the rocks as best as he could and stepped into the pitch blackness, completely blind.  Sarujiro grabbed his sleeve and slowly led him deeper into the darkness.  As he followed, Kenshin felt the ground carefully to be sure of his footing on the slick stone, he had the sudden image of the ground falling away into some chasm. 

“Sarujiro we need some kind of light, it’s not safe to go on like this, that it isn’t.”  Kenshin called out softly.  Somewhere off to the side he could hear the sound of dripping water and the roar of the falls behind him.

He heard Sarujiro sigh before he released Kenshin’s sleeve and Kenshin heard the boy shuffled off.  “Sarujiro, Saurjiro come back!” Kenshin called out but the boy didn’t heed him and Kenshin was left alone in the darkness not sure what to do.  He wanted to set Shura down and rest but as he couldn’t see his surroundings he wasn’t sure if it was safe to do so. 

After what seemed an entirety and Kenshin had just decided to try and make his way back to the entrance and set Shura down, see to her injury as best as he could, before trying to find Sarujiro. when he saw the light of a torch glowing off the walls of the cave ahead of him growing stronger.  Soon Kenshin could see that the cave they were in had a sharp turn up ahead from where the light was reflecting, in a few moments Sarujiro rounded the corner and Kenshin felt momentary blinded by the light of the torch.  Now Kenshin could see that the floor to the cave was for the most part level, there were several stalagmites scatted throughout the cave and Kenshin felt slightly awed by the brilliant colors of the various formations surrounding him.

Sarujiro motioned for Kenshin to follow him and Kenshin brought himself back into the present and followed Sarujiro as he led him through a maze of passageways until they came to one small cavern that was far enough from the waterfall that it was dry. 

Kenshin set Shura down and gave her a quick perusal with Sarujiro holding the torch so that Kenshin could see.  Shura’s breathing was shallow, her face was pale, her skin was cold, and her wound was bleeding freely.  Kenshin carefully examined the wound and checked for an exit wound but found none.  “The bullet is still in her leg,” Kenshin pronounced.  “This one will need some water boiled, a knife, plenty of light, needle and thread, and clean dry cloth at the least.  And something warm to wrap her in, she is going into shock.”  He looked at Sarujiro with a stern gaze and saw that the boy’s face was serious, he nodded his head at Kenshin, handed him the torch and ran off into the darkness.  Kenshin figured that the boy must have hidden in these caves enough to be able to make his way in the darkness.

Kenshin propped the torch upright between a couple rocks in the wall of the cavern, he unwrapped the kerchief that Shura had tied her hair up into and used it as a tourniquet to try and stop the bleeding while he waited for Sarujiro to return, hoping that it wouldn’t take the boy too long.

In just a few minutes, the boy returned with a blanket that he was using like a sack to carry everything in.  Kenshin helped the boy as he set his burden down and saw that he had brought several lanterns, a set of surgical knifes ranging in size with needles and spools of thread, yards of clean bandages, a small pot, and a small sack of charcoal. 

While Kenshin was busy lightening the lanterns and placing them around the cavern and tying a makeshift bandage onto Shura’s wound until he was ready to operate, Sarujiro started a fire on the floor of the cavern with the charcoal in a small pit he built from some loose rocks around the cave.  Once the charcoal was starting to burn Sarujiro grabbed a torch and the pot and left, returning in a few minutes with the pot full of water which he placed over the charcoal. 

Kenshin took over, seeing to the small fire as he waited for the water to boil and Sarujiro stood up and started gesturing at Kenshin before he pointed to Shura.  Kenshin observed the strange symbols the boy was weaving in the air, sure that it was some kind of language that the boy communicated with but Kenshin wasn’t sure what any of it meant.  He shook his head, “this one doesn’t understand, what are you trying to say?”

Sarujiro paused and pursed his lips as he tried to figure out a way to make Kenshin understand.  Finally he raised his fingers to his lips as though it was a spoon and then he made a face before he pointed at Shura again.

“Medicine?”  Kenshin asked to clarify and Sarujiro nodded happily, he pointed at Shura and then held his hands up as if to ask why.  “Are you asking what medicines would be good for her wound?” Kenshin questioned.

Sarujiro nodded enthusiastically, glad that Kenshin had caught on so quickly, “do you have medicines here?” Kenshin asked in disbelief, from what little Sarujiro had brought so far Kenshin assumed that the boy had been storing supplies in the cave for some time.  Sarujiro nodded in response.  “Bring what you have,” Kenshin replied, “that would be easiest this one thinks.”

The boy left once again and now that the water was boiling Kenshin was finally ready to see to Shura’s wound properly, he removed the blood-soaked bandage gently, he grabbed a surgical knife before he glanced at Shura’s face.  “If you can hear this one then I apologize for this,” Kenshin stated before he cut a slit in her hakama’s and prepared to remove the bullet.

***

Sanosuke glanced up briefly as Yahiko came around the corner of the boulders to the little camp they had made among the outcropping of rocks deep in the woods.  As far as they could tell, the area looked as though it was far from the pirate’s village and they should be safe for the night.  Yahiko dumped the load of wood that he carried next to the small fire that Sanosuke was tending to while Kaoru sat against the rocks grasping her wounded shoulder. 

“Is that enough wood?” Yahiko asked and Sanosuke glanced at the pile that Yahiko had built.

“That ought to be enough,” Sanosuke affirmed.  “All right Missy, time to look at that shoulder.”

Kaoru glanced up at them, “umm now?” she asked, embarrassed by the situation.

“Yes now,” Sanosuke replied, “this is hardly the time to be shy, we can’t let that wound get infected and you end up with a fever.  You would only slow us down then.  Trust me, I’ll be professional about this.”

Kaoru nodded in reply before she inched forward closer to Sanosuke.  She carefully loosened her kimono and started to slip it off to exposure her shoulder.

“Whoo, whoo,” Sanosuke whistled.

Kaoru hastily pulled her kimono back up and glared at Sanosuke.  “Sanosuke Sagara, you said you were going to be professional about this…” she started.

“I never said which profession,” Sanosuke pointed out with a devious smile.  “And the original reason you even ended up here was to make some money.”

Kaoru glared at him with a look that could kill and started tightening the ties on her kimono.

“Oh come on it was just a joke, stop taking everything so personally.” Sanosuke shot back with a grin.  “You’re as bad as Kenshin you know that?  Besides, you’re his girl which makes you off limits.”  _Not that you’re my type, she’s too willing to kill a man at the drop of a coin,_ Sanosuke thought in amusement _.  But way to much fun to tease._

Kaoru huffed before she slipped her kimono down just enough to exposure the wound so that Sanosuke could take a careful look at it.  “Sanosuke you better be glad that I can only use one arm right now or else I would beat you black and blue,” Kaoru warned him.  She stated to make a mental list of all the ways she was going to punish Sanosuke once she got the chance.

“Is everything all right?” Yahiko interrupted, trying to keep the two of them on topic as Sanosuke carefully examined both sides of Kaoru’s shoulder under the bandage. 

 “She managed to not pull any of the stitches so that’s good.  With any luck this won’t get infected but it would be best to get an actual doc to look at it,” he stated calmly as he tied the bandage back on once he was sure that it was as clean as it could be under the circumstances.  “Other than that there’s not much we can do way out here.  How’s the pain?”

“What pain?” Kaoru responded back, she didn’t want them to know how much it ached.

‘That’s the spirit,” Sanosuke complimented. 

“I hate to bring this up and all considering the situation but…” Yahiko trailed off with a forlorn expression.

Kaoru sighed, “Yahiko once we get Kenshin back I swear I’ll see that you get a nice meal of beef pot, Sanosuke’s treat.”

“Oh hell no,” Sanosuke butt in, “I’m not paying.”

“What if I tell Kenshin what you just did?” Kaoru replied with a mischievous glint in her eyes.  “I mean you practically called me a whore and tried to buy me.  You think Kenshin would find that funny?”

“Oh come on, I only whistled, and Kenshin would know a joke when he sees one,” Sanosuke protested.  _Actually he wouldn’t,_ Sanosuke thought once he took a moment to consider it.  “Besides, I doubt Kenshin would do anything more than sigh at that one, maybe a reprehend, probably just roll his eyes tho’.”

“You really think so?”  Kaoru asked with a tilt of her head. 

“Oh yeah, Sanosuke how could you try and take advantage of Kenshin’s girl while he’s  a prisoner of ruthless pirates?  Especially since she’s been shot and all?  I thought you were better than that,” Yahiko piped up, a sudden thought about how to blackmail Sanosuke springing to his mind.  “But of course I expect that Kaoru and I would be willing to forgive your little outburst if you paid back some of what you owe Kaoru in return for meals, since you have the money…”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sanosuke replied with an absolutely straight face.  “I barely get by as it is, if it wasn’t for the generosity of friends I would be starving in the streets.”

“What do you mean ‘since he has the money’?”  Kaoru asked in puzzlement of Yahiko, completely ignoring Sanosuke.

Yahiko shrugged,” Sanosuke’s carrying a small fortune with him at the moment, I saw his purse, I figured you would like him to pay what he owes you in meals.”

“You mean Sanosuke is carrying around a lot of money when he owes the Akebeko an outstanding debt in all the meals he’s skipped out of there?” Kaoru asked in surprise, “and that’s just where I know about, there’s probably several other merchants who he owes money to.  That’s it, once we get back to Tokyo I’m telling Nobuyuki about this and you better believe that he’s going to collect.”

“Now wait a minute, can we talk about this?” Sanosuke begged, horrified at the idea he would have to pay out any money without a fight.

“You really expect me to be on your side with the way you’ve been treating me lately?” Kaoru gasped in surprise.  “have you lost what little sense you were born with?”

 _Women,_ Sanosuke thought bitterly to himself, _the whole lot is trouble._

_***_

Kenshin was well aware of Sarujiro staring at him frantically from the corner of the cavern as he worked.  He had managed to remove the bullet and was busy sewing up the wound, trying to avoid thinking about his blood stain hands more than he had to, the sight brought back a horde of memories that he would rather forget.  He finished off the knot and observed his work carefully.  He laid a hand on Shura’s forehead and took special note of her breathing which had become more regular since he had treated her shock, her temperature was almost back to normal.  Kenshin turned to wash his hands in the clean water before he looked up at Sarujiro with a slight smile.

“She is out of danger now, that she is.”  He informed the boy as he covered Shura with a thick blanket.  “She should be fine now thanks to you.” 

The boy’s face lit up in happiness and he scrambled to his feet in joy.

“Do you have any dry clothes for Shura-dono and this one to wear?” Kenshin asked.   “And some sandals that would fit?”  Kenshin added hopefully.

Sarujiro thought for a moment and nodded, he gestured for Kenshin to follow him and Kenshin picked up a lantern as Sarujiro led the way to another small carven that had shelves built into the walls and was filled with chests and various odds and ends.  Kenshin glanced around seeing where Sarujiro had retrieved all the supplies he had given Kenshin so far.

“This is very impressive,” Kenshin observed in surprise.  “You have everything that you need here, that you do.” 

Saruijio was too busy digging around in a chest to reply.  He emerged with a set of narrow hakama and kimono with a pair of sandals for Kenshin before he rummaged through another chest and came out with an elaborately embroidered scarlet kimono.

“It’s exquisite,” Kenshin observed, surprised that such a fine thing would be found in this little cave.  _It looks as though it was meant to be used on one’s wedding day._   “I think Shura-dono will like that a lot, that I do.”


	9. Final Decision for the Leader of the Kairyu

**Chapter 8**

**Final Decision for the Leader of the Kairyu**

Shura woke and she blinked several times trying to understand where she was.  She glanced around the cave but had no idea how she came to be there or even where ‘there’ was.  She sat up with a groan, the blanket falling off of her and was about to stand up before a sharp pain rippled through her leg.  Puzzled, she pulled the blanket off to see her leg wrapped up with clean cloth.  She touched the cloth remembering the fight on the cliffs and how she had been shot. 

 _The mutiny!_   She remembered with a flash.  She felt racking sobs overtaking her as she remembered with bitterness her failure to lead the Kairyu.  _I failed you father, I tried to take your place but I couldn’t._   She grabbed the blanket to cover her face as she cried but was distracted by the clanging of metal against rock.  Confused she glanced down to see a surgical blade next to her and a sudden thought crossed her mind.  She grabbed the knife in her hand and held it against her left arm prepared to slash her wrist.

A strong hand grabbed her wrist and twisted it, causing the knife to slid from her hand and clatter against the rocks.  “What are you doing Shura-dono?” Kenshin asked her harshly, his eyes blazing.  “This one spent quite a lot of time saving your life and this is poor repayment, that it is.”

Shura struggled against his grasp to no avail.  “Let go of me!” she screamed as she made a lunge for the knife.

Kenshin’s eyes narrowed as he realized that in Shura’s hysterical state he was unlikely to sway her with his words.  _Time for another tactic._ “If death is what you really what then that I can give,” Kenshin told her harshly as he pushed her back, grabbed the knife in his hand, and lunged at Shura as though to stab her.

Shura saw his attack and not realizing that Kenshin would stop the knife before he stuck her she grabbed his hand to stop the blade, straining against Kenshin’s strength to keep the knife away from her.  “So you do want to live then Shura-dono,” Kenshin stated calmly as he stepped back and Shura stared at him in wide eyes, realizing the trick that Kenshin had pulled on her.

“How could you do that?” Shura sobbed, she covered her face with her hands and cried.  Sarujiro watched the whole affair with wide eyes, holding the kimono for Shura in his arms and looking at Kenshin as though asking what he should do next.  Kenshin set the knife down before he sat down next to Shura and laid an hand on her shoulder.

“I-I didn’t have the strength to lead the Kairyu, what good am I then?” Shura sobbed.

“It’s true that you probably weren’t qualified to lead the Kairyu,” Kenshin stated bluntly and Shura’s tears calmed as she glanced at Kenshin in disbelief, obviously not expecting Kenshin to agree with her.  “But there are still those who believe in you Shura-dono, like Sarujiro, would you commit seppuku and abandon them?  Is the leader of the Kairyu really that weak?” Kenshin asked softly.

Guiltily, Shura’s eyelashes flutter to Sarujio who was staring at her with a sad look.  She glanced back at Kenshin then to his hand on her shoulder.

Kenshin’s eyes widened as he snatched his hand away hastily with a sheepish look, “this one apologizes,” he laughed hesitantly.

Shura turned her head away from him, her tears faded and her normal calm returned.  “Go,” she ordered.  “I swear I won’t try to kill myself now.”

Kenshin nodded in response, but he still collected the knife before he walked over to Sarujiro who was still waiting desperately for orders of some kind.  “Sarujiro found you some dry clothes to change into.  It’s a beautiful kimono that this one thinks will look very good on you Shura-dono, after all wearing wet clothes isn’t good for you.”  With that, Kenshin directed Sarujiro to leave the kimono and accessories in the cave as they retreated to another cavern to give Shura some space for the moment.

Shura glanced up to see the pile of clothes, slowly, testing each movement on her injured leg she limped forward to the clothes and picked up the kimono.  _This was mother’s…_ she remembered.

 

_Shura played in her family hut while her father had met with other members of the Kairyu discussing the next target.  The men had finally left and Shura ran up and sat down next to her father, looking at him with a happy grin on her face._

_“Have you decided who you’re going to steal from next?” she asked happily._

_Her father’s face shifted from its happy smile a moment before at her words, “Shura you shouldn’t treat this so lightly,” Shura tipped her head in puzzlement as her father continued.  “We members of the Kairyu may have turned to piracy in order to escape poverty and keep our children from starving.  And while we only target rich, corrupt men that still doesn’t mean what we do is right and that stealing is something to be ashamed of.”  Her father sighed and looked out the open door to where the sea waves washed up onto the beach below.  “One day I dream of living a life on the open sea, a life that we can all take pride in.”  He looked back at her with a fond smile.  “When you’re older and exchange your marriage vows remember my words Shura.”_

_Shura made a face at the prospect of marriage.  “When you do marry,” her father continued, ignoring the look of repulsions on his daughter’s face.  “I ask that you lead the Kairyu with that man and make my dream a reality.  And when that day comes…” her father stood up and walked to a small chest in their hut, opened it and pulled out a crimson kimono made of such rich material that Shura couldn’t believe it was real, “you should wear this, it has been passed down to from mother to daughter for generations.”_

_Shura looked at the kimono in horror, the prospect of wearing anything other than her simple hadajuban and narrow hakama’s with worn out knees appalled her.  “There’s no way I’ll ever dress like a girl!” she yelled before running out of the hut with the sound of her father’s laughter trailing after her._

Shura wondered how the kimono had made its way to the cave.  She furrowed her brow as she remembered after her father’s death and she had taken over the Kairyu she had stockpiled everything that they had a value, including that kimono to be sold so they could purchase supplies.  _Sarujiro must have fetched it out and saved it here,_ she reasoned, she knew the boy had taken a liking to it when she had placed it with the other goods, she always assumed it was because the boy had never seen anything like it before.

She wrapped the kimono around her and marveled at its beauty, _maybe being just a girl isn’t so bad,_ she mused.

***

Kenshin crept next to Sarujiro who was leading him along the outskirts of the pirate’s village.  He hunched next to a wall of a building as Sarujiro glanced around the corner to make sure the coast was clear.  Sarujiro gestured for Kenshin to follow him and Kenshin quickly followed the boy as they crept around the corner, open a door, and slipped into the darkness of the building.  Kenshin heard the boy fumbling with something before a light flickered and Kenshin saw that they boy was lighting a bugler’s lantern, designed to give off only a little light.    Kenshin glanced around to what little he could see around him and realized that Sarujiro had led him into a storage shed of some kind. 

Following Sarujiro’s lead, Kenshin followed the boy through the maze of chests and crates and carried the supplies that Sarujiro handed to him.  Once Kenshin’s arms were filled with sail cloth, rope and other odds and inns, the boy nodded at Kenshin, extinguished the light, and led Kenshin back to the door.

While Kenshin waited as Sarujiro checked for any guards outside of the door, Kenshin wondered at the situation he found himself in.  _I’ve gone from being a guard on a ship, to a prisoner of pirates, to helping the leader of said pirates escape from a mutiny.  My life is starting to seem more and more like one of Kaoru-dono’s stories,_ Kenshin though warily. 

After he and Sarujiro had left Shura on her own in the cave Kenshin had a talk with Sarujiro about how they needed to leave the island as soon as possible.  The talk had more consisted of Kenshin telling the boy their circumstances and asking if they could get some type of boat and would the boy be able to sail it to the main land and Sarujiro nodding and dragging Kenshin off before he could protest.

Sarujiro tugged on Kenshin’s sleeve, calling him back to the present and he led him out the door and down to the beach on the other side of the island from where they had landed the morning before.  Kenshin could see on the backside of the island appeared to be where the humble fishermen had their boats.  Without hesitation, Sarujiro led Kenshin to one of the large vessels.  Kenshin dumped his load onto to the deck and turned to help Sarujiro.  Sarujiro, however, didn’t need Kenshin’s help.  He had already untied the boat from the dock, grabbed up a long pole, and used it to push the boat away from the dock and towards the ocean.

With Sarujiro directing him in the strange gestures the boy used to communicate, Kenshin helped the boy hoist the sail as the tide carried them out to sea.  Saruijio adjusted the sail to catch the wind and then positioned himself at the rudder directing the boat around the island.  Kenshin felt mildly useless and in the way as the boy scrambled from readjusting the sails, back to the rudder, and so on.  Kenshin tried to offer to help but the boy just shook his head.  Kenshin figured that it was probably easier for Sarujiro to do things on his own then to try and communicate with Kenshin the mysterious inner workings of sailing a boat. 

Finally, Saruijro directed the boat into a small inlet near one of the openings to the cave and then directed the ship straight to a small cove created by an outcropping of rocks.  With Kenshin’s help they tied the ship up in the small cove of rocks and pulled the sail down. 

“All right Sarujiro, what do we need to do next?” Kenshin asked.  He had long before come to the conclusion that the boy knew far better what they would need to do in order to get away from the island safely.  The boy smiled and then started a series of gestures slowly as he started to try and communicate to Kenshin what they would need next.

***

Morning dawn over the island and by this point Senbonya was completely sober with a throbbing headache and wishing that he was still drunk as he sat in the company of the pirates.  Akio was calmly eating as his men discussed the affairs of the night before. 

“…the villagers aren’t too pleased with the change in leadership but their nothing more than sheep when you get down to it.  All of the men are willing to follow you now that we have the promise of some real loot instead of those tidbits that Shura always settled for.  Why just survive when you can live like a king!” Gekki laughed.

“So Senbonya, now that your sober why don’t you take some time to explain the full nature of your business to us, since we’re be the ones delivering the goods?” Akio questioned. 

Senbonya flinched back, when he had first gotten involved in the underground and smuggling it had seemed so simple and easy but so profitable, he had never had to associated with anyone else, simply pick up the goods when directed, ship them where they needed to go, and deliver them to the next man on the line.  This was more than he had ever bargained for.  

“Have you ever heard of a man named Sadojima Hoji?” Senbonya asked.

Akio’s eyebrows shot up and Gekki’s mouth dropped open in amazement.  “You mean the king of the underworld Hoji, the man said to be behind almost every illegal activity in the country, who pulls the strings of yukaza’s across the country?” Akio asked.  “I always thought he was just a legend.”

Senbonya nodded, “he’s real, I was approached by his organization years ago when I was just a poor merchant.  The goods that I ship belong to him, the deal is simple, I receive a letter stating where to pick the goods up and the where, when, and who to deliver them to.  Then I simply make sure that the goods get there, once they are delivered safely I receive my payment.”

“Seems simple enough,” Akio mused.  “Who is your contact to Hoji?”

Senobonya shrugged, “I don’t know, the man who first contacted me is dead now, beheaded for his crimes, now my orders come simply in letters that are delivered straight to my house.  They are not passed through the post and they are always placed on my desk first thing in the morning, same with the payments.”

“Then I have a simple solution to make sure that you never cheat us,” Akio informed him.  “You will hire a few of my own men into your business, and at least one into your household who will assure that we receive our cut of the profits.  Is that agreeable to you?” the question seemed harmless enough but Senbonya gulped when he saw Akio fingering his ax.  He had few illusions about what would happened to him if he did argue.

“That sounds acceptable.  Just let me know who you wish to put in my service.”  Senbonya replied.

“Excellent,” Akio slapped his knee. 

“Well if you’re really working for the great Hoji then that explains what happened to old Yuu,” Gekki commented in disbelief.

“Eh?  What are you talking about Gekki?” Akio questioned with a sideways look at Gekki.

“We gave the old geezer some of that opium of Senobnya’s just to see how good the stuff was.  It must be pretty good because he went completely off his rocker for awhile, we’ve got him cooling off in the storage shed at the moment.”  Gekki laughed.

Akio gave a sidelong glance at Senbonya who simply looked down at his hands.  He turned his attention back to Gekki.  “That’s fine, right now I want you to see to the preparations for the celebration this afternoon.  We need to celebrate this turning point for the Kairyu properly.”

***

The grumbling noise got louder and Kaoru felt a headache starting to come on as she helped as best she could in cleaning up the remains of the camp they had made.  They were trying to remove all trace of their presence so the pirates wouldn’t know that they had been there.  She wasn’t in much of a mood to deal with Yahiko who was just standing off to one side, barely helping, as her shoulder was aching and she was hungry herself.  “Yahiko will you stop grumbling already?” she snapped.  “We’ll eat as soon as we can.”

“I’m not grumbling,” Yahiko whined.  “It’s my stomach, I can’t help it.”

Kaoru and Sanosuke looked at the boy in disbelief before the grumbling noise returned and Yahiko clenched his stomach against the hunger pains.

“Maybe I should go and see what I can find for food before we look for Kenshin,” Sanosuke muttered as he moved off.

“Food can wait, Kenshin may need us right now,” Kaoru protested, she was willing to put aside trifles like her pain and hunger to rescue Kenshin.

Sanosuke shook his head, “we can’t go sneaking anywhere with the kid’s stomach making that much noise, besides I don’t think well my own self on an empty stomach.  There should be something growing around here that we can eat, I won’t be long.”

Kaoru sat dejected on the ground while she waited and Yahiko sat next to her, doubled over from hunger pains.  Kaoru gave the boy a sad look, they had a miserable night with the wind whipping off the ocean keeping all of them from sleeping much and they were afraid to make the fire too big to avoid being seen.  Now they were all disheveled, dirty, tired, and hungry.

 _We may be the ones who need rescuing now,_ Kaoru thought wearily.  She put her good arm around Yahiko’s shoulder and pulled him close.  Yahiko leaned his head on her shoulder.  “We’ll get through this Yahiko, with any luck in a couple of day’s we’ll be home laughing about how miserable we are right now.”

Yahiko groaned, “I’m sorry I’m being such a pain right now, I used to be this hungry all the time and it didn’t slow me down like it is now.”

Kaoru’s face twisted in sympathy, “being hungry sucks.”

Yahiko snorted, “yeah it does.”  He paused for a moment, “you think Kenshin’s had anything since we were last together?”

Kaoru felt her heart sink at the thought.  “I hope so, I hope that he’s all right where ever he is and that he’s not mixed up in this mutiny, if they’re willing to blow up their own ship and aligned themselves with opium smugglers then I hate to think what they might have done to hi-” she trailed off and bit her lip.  “I’m sure he’s fine,” Kaoru stated, more for herself than Yahiko.  _I’m sure he’s fine…_

_***_

Sarujiro snuck through the village to the storage shed.  He slipped through the double doors and started rooting through various chests, gathering up enough food, supplies, and anything small that could be traded for money when they got to the main land.  Kenshin had remained behind carrying out the supplies in the cave that Sarujiro had set aside and loading them up on the boat they had stolen. 

Now Sarujrio was gathering the supplies that he didn’t have in the cave that they would need to help start his and Shura’s new life.  While he was rummaging through the supplies, he saw Kenshin’s sword tossed in a corner.  His arms were already burden with goods and Sarujiro thought for a moment about just leaving it there but he reasoned that Kenshin would want his weapon back and that it was the least he could do in repayment for saving Shura’s life.  Sarujiro shifted things around and managed to grab the sword in one hand before he heard a groan.  Instantly, he dropped everything with a loud clatter that made him flinch and clenched Kenshin’s sword to him in fear that one of the members of the Kairyu was around.  He shuddered at the thought of what the men would do to him now that he no longer had Shura to protect him and no family of his own.

When he saw no one in the storage room, Sarujiro began to think that he had imagined the groan until he heard it again, this time he pinpointed the direction that it came from.  Sarujrio crept cautiously around a stack of crates following the sound until he rounded a corner to see Yuu laying on the floor.  The boy instantly rushed to the old man’s side and Yuu’s eyes cracked open when he saw the boy.

“Sarujiro,” he breathed.  “Oh Sarujiro, I’m afraid that they have killed Lady Shura.”

The boy shook his head frantically, he made a signs in the air of the language that he had developed over the years and told Yuu that Shura was alive and well and in hiding.

Yuu’s eyes opened wide at the news, “Lady Shura is alive?” he gasped.  “We must go to her at once boy,” he declared as he started to rise and Sarujiro leapt to the old man’s aid to help him to his feet.

***

Shura glanced up in surprise when she saw Sarujiro helping Yuu to walk into the cave.  The old man looked as though he had been beaten and Shura hurried to his side in concern as he collapsed on the ground next to the little fire.

“Yuu, what happened?” she asked, laying a hand on the old man’s shoulder.

Yuu shook his head, “Akio is declaring himself the leader of the Kairyu with your death my lady.  He has struck a bargain with Senbonya.  It seems as though Senbonya made his fortune from trading in opium and Akio declares that the Kairyu will now be deliver the opium.”

“What!” Shura gasped.  She glanced closer at Yuu noticing his red eyes and drawn features.  “Yuu are you all right?” she inquired.

“I will be my lady,” he replied.  “Once the effects have worn off completly.”

“Effects?” Shura’s brows furrowed as she put two and two together.  “Do you mean to say they forced you to take opium?”

Yuu nodded in agreement and Shura seethed with anger.  _Too far, you have gone too far this time Akio.  And as the true leader of the Kairyu, I cannot let this insult stand!_

_***_

Kenshin tucked the last of the supplies Sarujiro had set aside on to the boat.  He looked around in the daylight pleased with how well their vessel was hidden.  He hoped that in the confusion the mutiny had thrown the island into they wouldn’t miss the boat just yet.  Kenshin had asked the Sarujiro earlier when was the earliest they would be able to leave the island and the boy had indicated that it would be early in the afternoon before the tide was right.  With his task done, Kenshin returned to the cave to hide out until they could leave the island.  Now that he had a moment to breathe he thought about Kaoru and the others and wondered where they were at the moment.  _I wonder if they are worried about me?_   He mused.  He remembered the peaceful days in Kaoru’s home and smiled slightly as he thought about how he would be back soon.  _Just a little while more and I can go back home._   He kept his thoughts busy on what their reaction would be when he arrived.

He made his way back to the cavern that they had left Shura in to see Sarujiro sitting with the old man Yuu and making something over the small fire.

“Where’s Shura-dono?” Kenshin asked in confusion, he glanced around the cave and he saw that while Shura was gone the crimson kimono remained.

“Lady Shura has left,” Yuu told him as Sarujiro suddenly busied himself with the fire.

“She what?” Kenshin gasped in alarm.  “Where did she go?”

“She said that she still had one duty left as the leader of the Kairyu, to deal with Akio and his betrayal and to officially disband the group.  She also wanted you to have this back,” Yuu handed Kenshin his sakabato.

Kenshin took his weapon, his eyes narrowing.  “We won’t be able to leave for several more hours, yes?” he inquired.

“It’ll be three or four hours until the tide,” Yuu confirmed.

“Fine, you please wait here with Sarujiro, this one has business to tend to.  If this one does not return in time I ask that both of you leave the island as planned.”  Kenshin gave them both a hard look, waiting until they agreed to his terms before he left the cave.

_Just once I’d like a woman to try and not get herself killed and let someone else do the fighting, just once…_

_***_

Yahiko and Kaoru walked behind Sanosuke who had taken point.  They had left their little camp after Sanosuke managed to scrooge up some plants that he swore were edible.  Kaoru and Yahiko made him eat them first to be sure.

“Are we lost?” Yahiko asked sarcastically as Sanosuke led them in a search for the pirates, Kenshin, or both. 

“Nope I know exactly where we are,” Sanosuke replied.

“You sure because I’ve been lost before and this is pretty much what it looks like,” Kaoru commented mildly, staring at the dense forest around them.

“I told you, I know where we are,” Sanosuke assured her.

“Didn’t we already pass that tree?” Yahiko asked pointing to a twisted tree.

“Yeah, this will this will be the third time actually.  I noticed it because I thought it was kind of neat the way that it almost twists into itself,” Kaoru replied happily.

“So we’re not lost?” Yahiko added with a sarcastic grin at Sanosuke.

“Trust me why don’t you?” Sanosuke asked in exasperation.  Kaoru and Yahiko raised their eyebrows at him and Sanosuke sighed, realizing that he already lost that battle.

Sanosuke led them on through the woods trying to ignore the looks he was getting.  He really had no idea where they were, but being a man, he refused to admit it.

“Are those drums?” Yahiko asked, his head perking up at the thudding noise coming through the trees.

“Sounds like,” Kaoru agreed.  “I wonder if it’s some kind of festival…”

“See I told you I knew where I was going, you just have to trust me that’s all,” Sanosuke injected happily.  Two sets of raised eyebrows greeted him.  “Come on, let’s find Kenshin,” Sanosuke sighed.  _Everyone’s a critic._

_***_

The tiny little village was filled with the men of the Kairyu gathered around bonfires roasting up all kinds of food that filled the air with their tempting aromas.  Saki was being served by the jug and there were contests of skills as men pitted their abilities against the comrades, there were several arm wrestling matches, several full on wrestling matches, spear throwing, practicing with the new rifles, and other various competitions. 

The most notable thing however, was the absence of many of the common people of the village.  Many when they heard of Shura’s demise and the new direction that the Kairyu would be taking under Akio’s leadership had taken the opportunity to slip away quietly onto the various fishing crafts and try to sail to the mainland and escape the island with what precious little they own.  Most who had tried to escape had been caught and were currently being held prisoner in one of the buildings on the island.  Those that had not been able to slip away on a boat during the night had managed to make it to the forest where they prayed for a miracle.  The few that had made no attempt to leave during the night were slowly slipping away as the festivals continued and the pirates were too drunk to stop them. 

Akio surveyed the whole celebration in amusement.  There were stacks of crates and barrels around the village since they couldn’t fit all of them into the limited storage space on the island.  It was also done to allow the men to observe the new weapons of the Kairyu. 

Some of the men weren’t interested in the new weapons though and were instead distracted by other forms of entertainment.  A few of the women who had tried to escape with the families and had been caught, were being passed around from man to man.  The few of the pirates who protested out of loyalty to their friends and family were quickly silenced with a blade to the heart and the others who disapproved of the treatment of the women kept their mouth shut and turn their heads.  Slowly Akio had been weeding out those men who only followed him with words to those who would be truly devout to his belief of what the Kairyu should be. 

“Now this is a party,” Gekki laughed.

Akio looked at his newly appointed first mate, “yeah, those parties Shura had were always too tame for my taste.”

Senbonya who was sitting with them kept his head averted from the festivals, praying as he counted the hours until he could be safely home again.

“That’s for sure,” Akio barked with a laugh.  “There is only one thing that this party is lacking tho’.  I really wish I had Shura here.  We could really have some fun with that bitch, right before we throw her into the bonfire to watch her burn.”

“Now that would be the perfect cap to the whole day now wouldn’t it?”  Gekki agreed as he drank down a cup of saki. 

“Before she died I would do everything in my power to make her feel what hell is like before she goes their personally.”  Akio swore.  “But nothing can be done if she’s already burning in those fires can it?”

“Hey who goes there!”

Akio, Gekki, and Senbonya glanced up in surprise as an alarm was called.  They tried to look through the crowd of men to see what was causing the disturbance.

“Stand aside, I’m not here for you weaklings,” a strong female voice ordered.  “If you don’t step aside then I will kill you.”

“Shura!” Gekki breathed, recognizing the voice. 

“What the hell?” Akio swore, his fist clenched in anger as he got to his feet.

“You can’t pass Shura,” the guard announced as he blocked Shura’s way with kama. 

Shura’s eyes narrowed as she glared at the man.  He stepped forward, swinging the weapon at her and Shura dodged the attack with a step to the side, grabbed the man’s arm with one hand and the handle of his weapon with the other and forced the man’s arm down as she brought her knee up to stick his wrist.  The man screamed as she broke his wrist and he dropped his weapon.  Shura snatched the kama away from the man once he released his grip on it just as three more men charged her.  She charged towards the men, swiping her weapon to disembowel one man before she reversed her weapon to jab the hilt of the kama against the back of the neck of a second, breaking the man’s spine.  The third man quickly backed away, dropping his weapon as Shura took out his comrades so quickly.  Shura straightened up, her face a sneer as she turned her attention to Akio, pure rage burning in her eyes and making her forget the pain in her leg. 

“Akio, I challenge you one-on-one for the title of the leader of the Kairyu.  So fight me unless you are the coward that I take you to be,” She mocked, pointing her kama at him.  “Once I beat you then as my final act as the leader of the Kairyu I will dissolve this group, now that I see you would reduce yourselves to the level of opium runners,” she spat on the ground, giving the men around her a look that showed how much she distain she held for each of them.

Akio growled in response, grabbing his ax and leaping towards her.  “I accept your challenge Shura, killing you will be the perfect ending to this celebration.”

“Shut up and fight,” Shura crouched in a fighting stance, moving her kama into a defensive position.

Akio smiled slightly as he glanced at her bandaged up leg, _you may be the best fighter on the island, but I still have one advantage over you…_

 


	10. The Last Leader of the Kairyu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure we've all had that moment where we've hit our breaking point and our 'give a damn' is broke. Well this is the chapter for that.

**Chapter 9**

**The Last Leader of the Kairyu**

_Once, just once I’d like a woman to listen to me, just once,_ Kenshin chanted in his head as he raced through the forest.  Every once in a while he threw in random swearing to break up the monotony of his chant.  He heard the sounds of drums up ahead and he struggled through the thick overgrowth to make his way towards the village.  He leaped over a bush in his haste and immediately tripped over an old man who had been hiding behind it.  Kenshin hit the ground and felt the sting as the hard dirt scrapped his hands and knees.  With a groan, he pulled himself back up to his feet and turned to see that in addition to the old man he had tripped over, there was a family, a middle-aged woman keeping several children, ranging in age from 12 to 4 huddled close to her as she stared at Kenshin in fear.

“Please don’t hurt us, please don’t hurt my children,” the woman begged, pulling the children a little closer to herself.

“If you want to punish someone, then punish me,” the old man begged, placing himself between Kenshin and the family.  “I was the one who made them hide out here, please leave them and take me instead.”

Kenshin’s heart twisted in pity before his anger overwhelmed his pity.  “I’m not part of the Kairyu,” he replied in a growl.  “I wish to end this, please tell this one which would be the fastest way to the village.”

The old man looked at Kenshin in surprise before he pointed.  “That way, there’s a path, it’ll take you straight to the village where they’re having the feast.”

“Thank you,” Kenshin ducked his head as he moved in the direction the man had pointed out.  “This area will not be safe for you, there is a point around the island, near an inlet.  There are two there that will assist you in leaving this place.  If you see others such as yourself then take them there as quick as you can.”  With that Kenshin resumed his mad dash towards the village. 

***

Akio leaped at Shura, swinging his ax in a wide arc, aiming to chop her in half.  Shura leaned back, catching herself on the ground with one hand as the ax swung over her before she pushed herself off the ground and swung her kama at Akio who was now open.  Akio jumped back and Shura only managed to cut through his kimono.  She snarled as she leapt forward on her good leg, swinging at Akio in a head to toe slash.  Akio swiped her attack away with his ax, he released one hand from his ax, and moved in to elbow her.  Shura retorted by pivoting on her heel and delivered a spinning sidekick to his liver with her injured leg, gritting her teeth at the spasm of pain that action caused her.

Akio grimaced and stepped back, holding his side.  Shura paused for a moment, waiting for the pain to fade a bit before hobbling forward to cover the distance between them.  She swung her weapon at him, aiming for his head but Akio blocked her attack.  The air was filled with the sounds of their fight and the pirates around them were so absorbed by watching their present and former leader duel that they didn’t notice the women they had captured were starting to slip away.  Some of the braver woman made their way to where their families were held captive and released them before they disappeared into the forest or down to the docks to try and find a vessel to leave the island with. 

“Come on Shura, just give up and I promise that I’ll make your death quick,” Akio taunted her.

“It doesn’t matter if I live or die as long as I take you with me!” she snarled in response, catching his ax with the kama.  Akio kept his weapon bearing down on her and Shura collapsed to her knees as she tried to keep his blade from inching closer to her. 

With a scream of frustration, she lashed out with one leg and kicked Akio in the leg, aiming for his knee but missing due to her awkward position.

Akio grunted in pain as he limped back half a step from her blow.  Shura pressed her advantage, getting one leg under her she leaped towards Akio and caught him off guard.  She rammed the hilt of the kama into his chest and felt the satisfying crunch of his ribs.

 _With any luck one of those punctured his lungs,_ she thought uncharitably as she straighten up and stood over Akio who had dropped his ax and was kneeling on the ground, doubled over and clenching his chest.  Shura kicked his ax away from him, and raised her kama to deliver the death blow.

“Please Shura have mercy, you believe in mercy don’t you?” Akio begged, raising his face to pled with her.

Shura’s lips curled over her teeth, “my mercy will never be wasted on scum like you,” she answered in cold certainty.

She swung her kama down but Akio was ready for her, he slipped one hand down to grab the hidden dagger in his boot and stabbed Shura in her wounded leg.  Shura dropped to the ground with a scream of pain, grasping the dagger as her blood started to gush out. 

“Akio you cheat!” she accused.

“He got her!” one of the pirates yelled from the sidelines.

“That’s our new leader,” Gekki added with a cruel smile as Akio slowly got to his feet and retrieved his ax.

“Say what you want Shura,” Akio told her calmly as he walked over to her.  “But no matter how dirty the trick, the winner is still the winner and the one with the last laugh happens to be me this time.”

Shura glared at him with all the rage she could muster, grabbing the dagger in her leg and planning to pull it out and stab Akio in the heart when he moved to kill her.  She realized that they would both probably die in the process but she was prepared for that fate.

“You’re not even worth looking down on,” a new voice cut through the air with a chilling undertone.

Shura’s head whipped around as she and the other pirates looked in surprise at the newcomer to the scene.  Kenshin’s clothes where ripped and torn from running through the brush, his legs almost to his knees were stain from dirt and mud, and he had several twigs and branches stuck to his clothes and hair.  His appearance was certainly comical enough, but his eyes held an icy fury as he looked at Akio.

“Himura-san, didn’t I order you to stay with Sarujuro and Yuu?” Shura yelled at him, frustrated that her orders would be disobeyed. 

“I’m not one of your men Shura-dono, I don’t take orders from you,” Kenshin answered her as he calmly walked forward.

 _You can say that again,_ Shura thought with a mental eye roll.  _Why do men have to be so difficult?  The world would be a lot better place if they would just do as they were told._

“Hey it’s that guy,” one of the pirates pointed out from the sidelines.

“Wait he’s not dead,” another answered.

Shura had to prevent herself from sighing, _not the brightest ones over there._

“Akio, I can’t let you walk away from what you have done, that I cannot.”  Kenshin announced in a sure voice.  “I will take Shura’s place in this fight and finish this.”

“Now wait a minute, this is my fight Himura-san, stay out of it!” Shura ordered but no one listened to her.

Akio glanced over to his men in a snort of disgust as Kenshin withdrew his sword and held it before himself.  “Someone kill the runt, I’m sick of looking at him.”

 _Why me?_   Kenshin thought bitterly as seven men charged at him and he moved to cluster of benches off to the side, jumping on top of a bench to gain leverage before he back flipped behind two men to strike down the two men behind them.  _The world would be a lot simpler place if women around me would do as they were told and not tried to get themselves killed every five minutes._ As Kenshin kept his back to one pirate, he spun with the man to strike another pirate down with a quick flick that caused that pirate to drop his sword before Kenshin delivered a slash across the pirate’s chest that knocked him to the ground.  _I’m so far from being in the mood for this I don’t even care about how many bones I break.  I’m tired, hungry, and sick to death of no one listening to me._

Kenshin continued his rant in his head, swearing against women, pirates, and fate in general as he delivered a spinning back kick directed at the jaw of another pirate who had leaped into the fight once Kenshin had managed to knock down the first seven.  But Kenshin wasn’t done yet as another swarm of men quickly followed.  Kenshin didn’t even care about the trail of hurt and groaning men he was leaving in his wake.  He simply kept spinning, striking, and jumping out of the way until he knocked down the last man and then was facing Akio.  The few pirates who hadn’t joined in were cringing back from Kenshin, their eyes flicking nervously to Akio. 

“I said that I would finish this fight, and this one always keeps his word,” Kenshin stated in a menacing tone, strolling calmly up to Akio.

“You are really annoying,” Akio snarled at Kenshin as he raised his ax. 

 _So people have been telling me for my entire life,_ Kenshin thought sarcastically.  Akio swung at Kenshin who simple side stepped out of the way and to the side, swinging his sword, aiming it for Akio’s hurt ribs.  Despite his injuries, Akio managed to whip his ax around with a grunt of pain to swipe Kenshin’s sword away in time. 

Kenshin didn’t give Akio the chance to take the offensive again, he quickly shifted his stance and delivered a quick slash at Akio who stumbled back clumsily from the attack.  Kenshin leapt forward, reversing his sword into the Ryutsuisen, an overhead slash downwards aimed at Akio’s head.  Akio caught Kenshin attack and with more energy than Kenshin thought he processed, given his cracked ribs, and threw Kenshin to the side.  Kenshin stumbled as he hit the ground but quickly regained his footing and was about to leap forward and continue the attack when there was a sharp crack and Akio’s eyes glazed over and he hit the ground with a crash.

Kenshin’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, he now found himself facing a rather irate looking Shura who was holding her kama in one hand .  “I told you that this was MY fight Himura-san.”  Shura yelled at him. 

“You bitch!”

Kenshin and Shura quickly turned their heads to face the rest of the Kairyu lead by Gekki who stepped forward with a snarl to stand next to a small stack of crates. 

“This is the end of the Kairyu,” Shura announced, letting her kama fall to her side. 

Gekki snorted and reached into the crates at his side extracting a small bomb.  “You think it’s that easy to win Shura?” he asked, lighting the bomb in one of the torches set up around the celebration.

Kenshin took a quick glance around at the number of crates and barrels.  Even if he assumed that only a quarter of the barrels were filled with gunpowder it still didn’t make for a good place to start throwing bombs.

“No don’t use that here you’ll-” Senbonya started but Gekki was beyond listening.

“I’m going to kill you myself Shura!” Gekki laughed as he lobbed the bomb at Shura and Kenshin.

Neither Kenshin or Shura hesitated, they both dived for cover as the bomb hit the ground and exploded, showering both of them with dirt. 

“Shura-dono, time to go,” Kenshin stated even though both of their ears were ringing from the explosion, he grabbed Shura’s shoulder and hauled her to her feet, looped her arm around his neck and hurried away as fast as they could.  Shura kept an eye on the men behind them, once the dust cleared enough for the men to see that the first bomb hadn’t gotten them, other men followed suit throwing bombs.  Shura saw three more fly in their direction and she dropped to the ground taking Kenshin with her.  Kenshin gulped as he saw one of the bombs land next to a stack of barrels.

 _Oh shit,_ Kenshin swore as he buried his face in his arm and the explosion rocked the village as the barrels of gunpowder ignited. 

***

Sanosuke, Kaoru, and Yahiko broke through the forest into an area that had been cleared for planting.  Ahead they saw a series of buildings.  “Found the pirates, and you guys thought I didn’t know the way,” Sanosuke stated proudly. 

Kaoru and Yahiko stared at Sanosuke for a moment with a look that clearly said neither of them believed that Sanosuke had found the village by anything other than sheer luck. 

“Come on you two, we’ve got to find Kenshin,” Yahiko yelled as he leaped forward.

“Yahiko wait up, we can’t just-“ Kaoru started but the explosion cut her off as the village suddenly exploded into flames.

“What the hell?” Sanosuke swore in surprise, “what is it with these people and blowing things up?”

“Kenshin,” Kaoru breathed, the horrible thought that Kenshin had been in the middle of that explosion crossed her mind and she dashed forward, heedless of the danger. 

“Kaoru wait a minute,” Sanosuke started running after Kaoru’s figure as he dashed towards the burning village.  He caught her halfway, grabbing the back of her obi and jerked her to a stop.  “Missy wait here, that’s no place for you, stay here will you?  Yahiko keep Kaoru here if you have to sit on her.”  Sanosuke ordered.

“Wait,” Kaoru called but Yahiko grabbed her good arm and stopped her before she could follow after Sanosuke who had disappeared into the smoke and flames.

“Kaoru come on, Sanosuke knows what he’s doing, let’s get out of here before we choke to death,” Yahiko coughed as the wind blew in their direction and a wave of black smoke washed over them.

Coughing, Kaoru followed Yahiko as he led them back to the edge of the forest and out of the smoke.  They both waited anxiously, searching through the haze of smoke and flames to see any type of movement.  They waited for what seemed an entirety before they heard Sanosuke’s voice.

“Yahiko!  Kaoru!” they heard him yell from somewhere off on their left.  Kaoru and Yahiko followed that sound and sounds of someone coughing until they came across Sanosuke leaning against a tree with a young woman in dirty and tattered clothes tying a tourniquet around her leg while coughing on the smoke and fending off Kenshin’s attempts to help treat her.  Finally realizing that he wasn’t getting anywhere Kenshin sat back on his heels with a sigh.

“Kenshin!” Kaoru yelled, dashing across the space between them before dropping to her knees next to Kenshin and hugging him with her good arm.  “Are you all right?” she asked breathlessly drawing back to give Kenshin a good look.

Kenshin nearly jumped out of his skin at her embrace, with his ears still ringing from the explosion he hadn’t heard her coming.  “Kaoru-dono?”

“Great we found Kenshin and he’s picked up another woman.  Can we go home now and get something to eat?” Yahiko wined, looking to Sanosuke for support.

“I second that,” Sanosuke agreed.  He was just as hungry as the boy.

“Everyone, there is a boat on the other side of the island that we can leave on but Shura-dono is wounded, we need to help her.”  Kenshin ordered, he didn’t know what everyone was saying since his ears were still ringing and all he heard was garbled noises but he knew that they needed to get to where Sarujiro and Yuu were before the tide turned.

 “Wait Shura’s a chick?” Sanosuke gasped in surprise and gave Shura an apprising look. 

“Sanosuke Sagara get your mind out of the gutter for a change and help out will you?” Kaoru snapped.  She didn’t know what was going on or why they needed to help Shura but she wasn’t going to argue the situation at the moment.  Kenshin had said there was a way off the island and Kaoru wanted nothing more than to get home as soon as possible, have a decent meal, take a bath and change her clothes, get a good night sleep, and sort out the rest of the details after that. 

“Whatever you say slave driver,” Sanosuke muttered as he moved forward to help Shura and Kenshin back on their feet so they could leave.

***

By the time they had gotten across the island, Kenshin and Shura’s ears had stopped ringing and their hearing had returned.  Yuu and Sarujiro were overjoyed too see Shura again.  Together they all got aboard the boat and Kenshin was glad to see quite a few of the common villagers had made it there and also joined them as they set sail for the mainland. 

Once they had made their way out to sea, and everyone had been able to grab a quick snack from the supplies Kenshin had loaded earlier, Kenshin turned his attention to the others who quickly bombarded him with questions about what had happened to him.  It took Kenshin a while to explain what had happened to their satisfaction before he was allowed a moment to ask how they had managed to find him, this however, turned out to be a mistake.

“Well it’s kind of a complicated story,” Sanosuke started rubbing his head.  He started explaining how they had been at Tateyama and their plan for digging up any information on the pirates.  Yahiko chirped up once to explain how he had been the one to see Akio going to see Senbonya and followed the pirates back to the ship and had been able to sneak aboard the pirate’s ship, but other than that Sanosuke did all the talking.  Sanosuke made it all the way up until their night in the woods before Kaoru uttered a word.

“Yes Yahiko and I were forced to spend the night with the most digesting of chauvinistic pigs.” She snapped.

Kenshin’s eyes quickly turned to Kaoru, surprised by the anger in her tone and eyes as she glared at Sanosuke and he looked back at her with an overly innocent expression.

“It was just a joke, you’ve got to lighten up already.  I was just trying to lighten the mood since we were all feeling pretty miserable.”  Sanosuke protested.

“Oh yes, because nothing perks a girl right up like being called a whore,” Kaoru retorted.

“Sanosuke!” Kenshin snapped.

“I didn’t call you a whore, stop making things up,” Sanosuke spat back, ignoring Kenshin as his full attention was now focused on Kaoru.  Kaoru was likewise consumed with staring Sanosuke down, she had been holding her tongue for too long, but now that she knew Kenshin was safe she fully intended to pay Sanosuke back for every rude comment and impetrate remark he had made in her direction over the past few days.

“So now you’re saying I’m a liar!” Kaoru screeched.

“Stop being a girl and reading something that isn’t there!” Sanosuke yelled back.  “Fine I’m sorry about what I did, will you just shut up about it already?  If you want to yell at someone why don’t you start with Yahiko?  He’s been swearing up a storm this whole time, and he lifted my purse when I found him in the red light district talking to a couple of prostitutes.”

“Yahiko Myojin!” Kaoru turned her attention to Yahiko much to his chagrin.  Yahiko however was ever ready with a comeback, “I was just following Sanosuke, he was the one flirting with the whores and was going to buy one while Kenshin was being held prisoner.”

“HE WAS WHAT?!?”

Shura had to glance over at the little niche on the boat that Kenshin and the other’s had taken up when the yelling began.  Kenshin was rubbing his temples as though he had a headache while Kaoru, Sanosuke, and Yahiko were engaged in some kind of a three way screaming match.  Shura couldn’t make out a word of what was being said anymore and she was sure that the parties involved didn’t even know what they were saying either.

“All right that’s enough, shut it!” Shura ordered, stepping forward to try and take charge of the situation.  None of them seemed to hear her as the fight went on.  “I told you to shut up!”  Her eyes narrowed as she was ignored once again.  She grabbed Sanosuke’s arm and spun him around to face her.  “Did you hear me?” she asked harshly.

“I can only deal with one crazy bitch at a time,” Sanosuke snapped back as he shoved Shura away and returned to his screaming match with the others.  Shura was a second away from grabbing a weapon and breaking up the fight one way or the other but Kenshin finally got to his feet and held a hand out to stop her.

“I’ll handle it,” he told her firmly before turning his attention to the three.  “If you three don’t calm down this instant than Kaoru-dono I am no longer washing the laundry, Yahiko I won’t cover for you anymore when you leave your chores undone, and Sanosuke, no help with gambling,” Kenshin informed them all in a calm and level tone.

Shura was shocked as to how quickly the three went from just about to murder each other to looking at Kenshin with hurt expressions.

“But Kenshin…” they protested.

Kenshin held up his hand, “you three have had your chance to act like children, that you have. Now it is time to handle this like mature adults.  Yahiko you know that stealing is wrong, even if it is from Sanosuke and who knows where the money really came from, it’s still wrong.  Also you need to watch your tongue.  Kaoru-dono, you need to stop taking what Sanosuke says or does personally, he can’t help it when he acts like an ass, it’s just part of his nature.  And Sano,” Kenshin looked at his friend with an exasperated look, “just grow up will you?  Now all of you, sit down and not another word till we reach shore unless it is to apologize for the way you have treated each other, understood?”  Kenshin gave them each a firm look until they nodded and sat down peacefully on the boat. 

Kenshin turned to Shura with a happy grin, “you just have know how to talk to them, that you do.”

***

They reached a deserted place on the beach just south of Tateyama just after nightfall.  By that time, Sanosuke and the others had made up and apologized to each other for the way they had acted for the past few days.    The regular villagers started making their way towards Tateyama as soon as the boat reached shore but Kenshin and the others lingered for a moment when they realized that Shura, Yuu and Sarujiro were making preparations to set sail again.

“Shura-dono are you not coming to Tateyama?” Kenshin asked in surprise.

“No,” Shura answered, “I’m sure they know our faces there and we would be hanged.  This is where we part ways I’m afraid.  I’m sorry Himura-san that you had to save me so many times.”

Kenshin smiled in replied, “I can say the same thing, that I can.  Have you thought about what you are going to do now?”

“Not really,” Shura answered calmly, “too many things have happened.”

“I understand that,” Sanosuke chirped in.  “It’s not every day that you lose everything.”

“No that’s not exactly true,” Shura said with a quick glance at Yuu and Sarujiro.

“Since you don’t have anywhere to go Shura-san, if you want the three of you can come to Tokyo with us and stay with me.  There’s plenty of room,” Kaoru offered.

Shura looked at Kaoru as though she was mad.  “You want three pirates to stay with you?”

“You wouldn’t be the only criminals I’ve had under my roof,” Kaoru added dryly.  “I’ve had everything from pickpockets to opium dealers.  I’m starting to think I run a halfway house for criminals instead of a kenjutsu dojo.”

Shura laughed, sure that Kaoru was joking.  “Thanks’ for offer but I’m afraid we can’t accept.  Besides dry land’s boring.  You’ve got some good friends there Himura-san,” Shura nodded a quick goodbye before she helped Sarujiro push the boat back into the water as they set sail again, heading towards the open ocean.

“Can we eat now?” Yahiko chirped up, breaking the silence that had fallen over the group.

Kaoru laughed.  “Come on guys, we better find something before Yahiko starts gnawing on a tree or something.”

“Speaking of food, how are we going to afford to get back to Tokyo, were any of you paid?” Kenshin asked, looking hopefully at the others.  They shook their head.

“Well looks like Sanosuke is going to have to pay for this one since he’s the one with all the money,” Yahiko spoke up with a grin and three pairs of expected eyes turned on Sanosuke.

Sanosuke sighed, “can’t we go to one of the gambling houses and Kenshin win the money for you three?  I’ll back him if you need it, so long as I don’t lose a sen.”

“Sanosuke,” Kaoru started in a dangerous tone.

Sanosuke sighed again, “this is the worst job I’ve ever taken.  I should have listen to that voice that told me there was going to be a catch to all of this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So concludes this story arc, next week will start the first part of the trilogy which will consist of the Kyoto Story Arc. I've had a few questions/comments about whether I will continue this work through the last story arc with Enishi. Yes I do intend to keep writing through to the end of the manga's story line. In fact this April I intend to start work with the rough draft of that story arc, so I hope you enjoy and keep reading through to the end!


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